Slade's Tale
by Alexnandru Van Gordon
Summary: Ever wonder what makes Slade tick? Then follow me and we’ll take a look inside his head… (many chapters long)
1. Default Chapter

Slade's Tale

Alexnandru Van Gordon (Co-written by Victor Van Heiring)

Here I am again with yet another story. I have to give credit to Victor for giving me the idea for this plot; he's actually going to help me all the way. Well, what I'm hoping to accomplish with this one is to try and make reasons for Slade's insanity. Not only that, but I'm going to take you on a tour of his mind as he goes through the show. I may add a non-existent episode or two just to give it a little original spin, but I'll keep it sensible. You get to see what Slade is like on his free time

SUMMMARY: Ever wonder what makes Slade tick? Then follow me and we'll take a look inside his head…

DISCLAIMER: I don't own him or the Teen Titans, and I have to give credit to my cousin for bringing up the idea.

CHAPTER ONE: Beginning

Insanity…Where to begin with insanity? Makes one sigh when you try to explain it, but you really can't describe it in words. You can tell that tale of how insanity came to be, but it cannot be justified or defined in anyway possible for the innocent mind. But to make it easier for you understanding people—insanity is when the foundations of your mind slowly collapse, and the wall, which blocked you out from the truth, finally crumbles and falls.

That is insanity.

He was always somewhat insane…Don't know. He never told anyone when he slowly began to slip or what made him tick, but it was, for sure, final when he volunteered for that experiment to become a super soldier. That's right! Good old Sgt. S. Wilson was a soldier in the army, and boy was he a brave guy. Guess he'd have to be to take that test. I suppose you can say that's when his story really began. Something went wrong, he looked like he was in a coma, woke up, got into trouble numerous times, picked up the name Deathstroke the Terminator…it goes on. I'm here to tell you what he has to do with the Titans, who, I'm certain, would want to know exactly what I'm about to tell you.

His idea of an apprentice was the first thing he ever thought concerning children. He was a mercenary and a damn good one at that, working for the highest bidder with the most exciting job. Then he would ignore his _employers_ for a while and go off in secret where no one could find him, because, quite frankly, no one hired Slade unless he wanted to be found and hired. It was an unwritten code and no one dared to destroy it. You couldn't even bend that law unless you want Slade to _bend_ your spine and break it with a pretty little snap.

To put it plainly, he was feared, and not a lot of people (save for the heroes) would dare to step in his way unless they wanted to be crushed. It was a simple fact of life.

The idea of having an apprentice popped into his head when he was finished one of his assassination jobs. It was a quick kill and no one would be able to trace the murder to him so, having time to spare that night, he walked around the city after changing into civilian clothes and decided to check out what was so great about Gotham. Bored, he picked up a newspaper and read through the pages until something interesting came up.

_Teen Titans_

Interesting name.

It started off with telling the sudden break-up of the famous Dynamic Duo. That wasn't exactly new, but the fact that Robin was spotted in Jump City with a team of his own _was._ Another group of heroes to avoid…oh joy.

But they were kids and that was what made him laugh—mostly at the Dark Knight. The man had a kid who was ready to keep his job going and then, with one little argument, the boy runs off in protest to show he isn't just some kid. If the Dark Knight was really the man to be feared by any foe, why couldn't he keep a hold on his own side-kick? Didn't he know what it meant to have absolute control, or was he just some soft-hearted fool who could never give the kid a good talking to? It was really quite funny…

That sparked the idea. He and Batman had met before—having given each other enough bruises—and wouldn't it be something to show the good guy that the bad guy could do things better than he could? But that also brought up another idea.

Who would Slade have keep his business running if something was to happen to him? Even if he was simply injured for a time-being, the heroes could fix all the destruction he caused. After all, he really couldn't die after that near-fatal accident with the experiment. Using ninety percent of his brain, body advanced, he was…in a way…immortal. He had been shot and caught in an explosion, only to come back alive each time stronger and smarter than before.

Seeing that he wasn't going to die any time soon, why not try having an apprentice of his own. The problem—who would it be?

Still holding the newspaper, he read the article over again. Here was five young heroes who had potential and could be near indestructible if only they had someone to teach them. That made sense anyway. What other kid group of heroes was there to monitor?

-break-

The first act was simply. He found HIVE and met with the Head Mistress, a woman who was as stern and stiff-faced as any old prune, and he told her half a lie—half a truth. He wanted an apprentice (the truth) and he was thinking about having one of her students (the lie). He knew the young villains were lacking in…let's just say_ a lot_, but what better way was there to make his being known to the Titans? They loved to fight—why not introduce himself to them through battle while watching to see which one was best?

"I have a job for you." He said to the one named Jinx, a pink-haired punk with a cat-like attitude and little hexes in her hands.

"I'm listening, Mr. Slade." Was her sly response.

"Kill the Titans."

"That I know, Mr. Slade."

"Do you?" He asked; hands behind his back. He always stood that way, a habit he picked up from the army. "How do I not know you aren't hesitant to kill?"

She frowned at being called a weakling, but kept her voice from revealing her already noticeable anger. "Who would you like us to kill first, Mr. Slade?"

He turned to his screen in the dark room and pointed to Boy Wonder. He was monitoring another fight in Jump City as the Titans chased down yet another villain. He wanted some form of revenge against the Dark Knight for past problems he cause Slade, and this might wet his appetite for the moment until he could repay Batman personally.

"Kill him first."

An eyebrow rose and Jinx placed her hands on her hips, leaning slightly to one side as she stared at the screen. "Robin? The leader of the Teen Titans?"

He smiled behind his mask, looking down at the pathetic girl. "Do you have a problem with that?"

She looked shocked for a moment and waved her hands out in front of her in defense. "No...I was just thinking…"

"Well, _don't_ think." Slade snapped back and turned his back to her, a sign that she should leave. "Just _do_."

She huffed and half walked—half stamped out from his liar to join up with her two comrades. It would be interesting to see what the Titans would do against a second group of abnormal kids. The battle just might be worth watching.

Nothing much happened in the beginning as he monitored the screens. It wasn't until the heroes decided to take a break to eat that the small team from HIVE decided to make their presence known to the Titans. It was a simple beginning—stage a civilian in trouble and push a heavy bus down the hillside road. Honestly—at least try to be original.

Surprisingly, the HIVE team did better than what he had thought they were capable of. It wasn't until they created a chasm in the road to swallow up Robin that he finally admitted to himself that the HIVE organization wasn't a waste of time. There was no possible way a mere human child could survive a fall as fatal as that.

Adieu, Robin.

The first attack was nothing more than a wake-up call for the four remaining Titans. Through Gizmo's own cameras, Slade watched the second meeting—an attack on the T-tower itself. The Titans put up a fair enough fight, but it was apparent that they hadn't been in business for long because the HIVE team successfully—and literally—shot them out of their own head-quarters.

As he sat back and watched the HIVE team fool around in the T-tower, he couldn't help but feel disappointed at the simplicity of defeating the Titans. He was almost…_hoping _for more, hoping that he would maybe find his apprentice among them. That left the HIVE's top three students, but he wasn't a fan of their personalities. Mammoth was too stupid, Jinx had an attitude and the type of personality he hated, and Gizmo was such a thorn in the side…There had to be someone better out there.

While they raided, he decided to change his screen to monitor the city. Maybe there would something else to watch besides the HIVE team. That was when he caught sight of something very interesting…Although the Titans were not dead, they still failed to team up and agree on what to do. It seemed that their brains were scrambled the moment their leader took a fall similar to his parents in the circus…He knew a great deal about them all, but he would have never guessed their type to turn on one another.

That was when he received a shock. He didn't know whether it was a pleasant shock, or just another upset jolt he received whenever things weren't looking his way.

The surprise was the return of Boy Wonder. His belt was gone, but he didn't seem to miss it. He still had his brains and that seemed to be just enough to satisfy his sad soul as he quickly organized his team and handed out the tasks. Slade had to admit, his plan sounded like it could work…

And it did.

No sooner had they returned to T-tower than the HIVE team was arrested. This of course, both excited and highly annoyed Slade. One moment the HIVE team was throwing aces, and the next they were beaten in five minutes flat. Was there something wrong with the picture, or was his insanity speaking again?

This _failure_ (and oh how he _hated_ that word) earned yet another visit from the Head Mistress of HIVE in her feeble attempt to explain the loss to Slade. That didn't work and only proved to heighten Slade's temper, something he didn't allow to happen once too often. He was a man of silent observations, hidden threats, and patience beyond any average person. Oh well…no one obviously missed the woman when he _disposed _of her at his own discretion. No one from Hive cared—or dared—to call him up and ask what ever happened to her. They simply appointed a new Head Master, collected the imprisoned Hive team, and went on training their students.

Too bad for her.

But HIVE no longer interested him. They did, however, do something worth his while, Gizmo (the technological freak) accidentally blurted out a name in one of his muttering fiestas and Robin just so happened to hear. Slade was actually hoping the Boy Wonder would be the one to hear and ask the question: _Who is Slade_? And he was glad it did. After surviving a fall like that…let's just say he was interested in discovering the limitations of the boy hero. He was, after all, the only full human on the team without any advancement made on his body or mind. He had a natural detective mind and trained day-in and day-out whenever he wasn't fighting crime. His speed and agility were second nature to him, being an acrobat, and that was something you didn't see everyday.

The other four Titans…Where to begin with them? Despite his interest in Robin, he decided to monitor the rest of them just to see what they were capable with, and this is what he came up with…

Cyborg was the eldest of the bunch, a mechanical monster after having his original body destroyed. His real name was Victor Stone and his attitude was serious when it had to be and free-spirited whenever else. Machinery and technology were his specialties, but one zap or a simple code to hack into him and you could kill him on the spot. He was strong, but he was also very weak in that manner.

Raven was the half-demon witch of the team, a monotoned girl who kept her emotions in check constantly. Her great concentration was the key component to her powers, but a slip of her attitude and she would go off like a timed bomb. Her powers were too much for even her to handle sometimes, but not so much her personality. She was dancing on a dangerous boarder and she wasn't the type of person one would want to find themselves around. Slade was actually surprised she was on the team.

Starfire, sometimes referred to as Kori…Kori-_something_, was the alien freak of the group. She was a princess from the planet Tam…Tamer…_whatever_! Which was located who-knows-where out in the universe. She stored energy in the form of green lights in her hands and possessed both extraordinary strength and the ability to fly. She was quite a powerful being, but her innocence and little knowledge of human ways made her weak. She was the type of person who believed in a better tomorrow and didn't understand enough of anything to survive on her own. It was sickening, and someday someone would burst her bubble.

The fifth Titan was Beast Boy, Garfield Logan, who was a green changeling with an odd personality. He wasn't exactly the quickest to think, but his transformations were amusing. His power was admirable but he too, like the alien girl, did not possess enough knowledge to make survive on his own in this cruel world. That was a great disappointment, but what else was new? Children seemed to like disappointing him…

Still monitoring them, his eyes always somehow felon Robin, and he would end up watching the Boy Wonder until the end of whatever criminal they chased to battle. The five of them were on his list, but Robin kept coming up as first on the list.

Not wanting to be disappointed a second time. Slade decided to take things slower and test the Titans more than once until his decision was final. Robin seemed to be the perfect fighter, but his flaw was his obsessiveness to win—to always find the answer.

Funny…that was Slade's weakness too.

-A-

Well, that's it for now, people. There's more to come—and there will be breaks in the text for the POV of other characters. But remember—this story is about Slade and what he thinks. If you have any questions or concerns just tell me…I honestly don't bite heads off unless you're my cousin Victor. Anyhow, I just thought I would write a story on Slade because in all my other stories, guaranteed, at least ninety percent of my reviews will tell me that Slade is their favorite villain. And I promise to make future chapters longer if I can…I just hope I get reviews for this story…

_Until next time,_

_Alexnandru Van Gordon,_

_(and_

_Victor Van Heiring)_


	2. Chapter two: Closer

Slade's Tale

Alexnandru Van Gordon

I knew a couple of you people would like it—I got more reviews in one day for chapter one than for any of my other stories. That means it's definite—the majority of the Teen Titans fans out there agree that Slade is one of the best villains ever created.

To answer a few questions—yes, I will be talking about Slade's past life, but I can't reveal everything at once or I'll just ruin my story. I like dangling you guys over the cliff, because then I can make bets on who will last the longest…just joking. I'll just be getting to work before one of you comes and hits me…

AND HERE"S SOMETHING IMPORTANT! I don't know whether or not _Divide and Conquer _came first in the series or _Final Exam_. I live in Canada and they keep switching between the two. I'm just going to assume that _Final Exam_ happened first. If that's okay with you.

DISCLAIMER: Me?—Ha! You'd have to be insane (like Slade) to think that.

CHAPTER TWO: Closer

After Slade sent the HIVE team to send his message to the Titans, he made a little test for them. One thing he noticed when he first began monitoring them was that the Titans always fought as a team, and that didn't allow for much one-on-one scenes for Slade to grade the Titans on. It was as if they knew he was watching him, but he knew they didn't. Well, Boy Wonder would suddenly gaze in the direction of one of Slade's hidden cameras, frowning in a curious way. Once, Robin almost did notice one he walked up to the camera before his companions called him away.

That was a close one.

That actually excited Slade.

Well, he'd have to find a way to separate them somehow, and that would mean hiring a team. Quite frankly, there weren't many criminals teamed up in Jump City besides the occasional biker gang, but the Titans disposed of them too quickly. There really wasn't much of anything for him to monitor when such things happened. All in all, it was pretty unfair on his behalf.

So one day he decided to do a little hacking in the Jump City Jail files and went snooping around for a good hour before he came across something of interest. Someone was locked up inside the jail—but he wasn't a criminal. In fact, he had a clear record. It was his alter ego, _Plasmus_, which did the crime and had to do the time…in a manner of speaking. The man transformed into Plasmus whenever he was awake, instantly changing back to his wholly human state the moment he fell asleep or was knocked unconscious. The good thing about this (for Slade, of course) was that he was in a liquid form that could separate into many little monsters, and—this part is very important—how exactly to you knock a plasmatic humanoid unconscious? Obviously the police knew because they kept him asleep in the prison, but it was apparent that the Titans did not. Plasmus was a monster from _another_ city, simply moved to the Jump City Jail because the other city didn't have the room to contain Plasmus if he were to wake.

Perfect. This was just what he was looking for.

A while back, he also found another humanoid monster. The creature was a mountain of stone that towered high above every man and didn't have the brain to disobey Slade. All he had to do was look at the beast and it would stare back him with interest until Slade looked away or told it to do something. It was clumsy, but very easy to control, the type of servant Slade liked.

"Cinderblock." Slade called into the darkness of his hideout. The gigantic beast stepped out of the shadows and into the light with a few heavy steps before staring down at Slade. "Bring this man to me."

He pushed a few buttons on the control panel and hacked into the security cameras at the Jail. He peeked straight into Plasmus' holding cell and focused the camera on the sleeping man inside the tube. Though he was stupid, Cinderblock understood the order perfectly and stomped off to do his master's bidding.

This would be amusing.

He sat back and continued to watch the security cameras all over the jail. A short while later, Cinderblock came storming in through the front entrance and started an uproar among the guards.

Slade shook his head and sighed heavily. Obviously the blockhead didn't have the brains to take another entrance. Of course the front entrance would have the most guards, seeing that it connected to the courtyard where the criminals were allowed outside. But as long as he didn't get caught before Plasmus was free, maybe Slade could avoid the migraine he knew was coming…

Surprisingly, Cinderblock's stupidity helped out in a better way. Not only did he grab the sleeping human form of Plasmus, but he also had a little battle with the Titans. They each gave one another a solo chance at the beast until Cinderblock headed tails and ran. Coward…

It even surprised Slade more when Robin and Cyborg teamed up. He smiled when he saw their ankles snag in the middle of their attack, and both explosions go off target. He laughed! That little show actually made him laugh! And the look on their faces when their friends took the blows…He had to see this.

It was really amusing when they started to argue—what else was new. Children always argue. But then when they discovered Cinderblock got away with another criminal…sparks flew in that conversation and Slade had to agree with the little green changeling when he mentioned selling tickets for a one-on-one battle between the _former_ friends. One insulted the other, both agreed that they couldn't work with each other, and it ended with the robotic one leaving the team.

How splendid.

Cinderblock returned shortly after the Titans left the Jail, and Plasmus was…_introduced _to Slade. Well, his human side didn't seem too pleased in meeting him.

"I'm awake?...I should never be awake!"

There was the sound of terror in his voice and Slade enjoyed that. He even enjoyed it more as the man transformed before his eyes and became the infamous Plasmus. Slade gave him his orders and he, like Cinderblock, obeyed without hesitation, leaving with the stone humanoid to wreck havoc on Jump City.

Following orders, Cinderblock made his way to one side of the city while Plasmus went to an old factory where he could consume more grotesque products to build up his already towering figure. As expected, the four remaining Titans showed up and started out with a light attack with the basic "everyone-gets-a-shot-and-then-we-wrap-this-up" routine. When that didn't work, they pinned Plasmus down with a few beams from the factory and Slade actually began to worry if his plan was going to work.

It just so happened that it did.

Evidently, Plasmus wasn't too pleased with the fact that he was recaptured after having just been rescued from jail. In protest, he separated his body parts and scurried after the Titans as five little monsters as Robin and his team dashed from the room. They braced the door but even the children knew there was no escaping the creatures. So, in the end, the Titans ended up splitting up.

Just what Slade wanted.

Beast By, Starfire, and Raven were the first to go, putting up something of a battle when they were attacked, but they didn't really amuse Slade in anyway possible. His eyes finally fell on Robin who, by that time, fell down onto a conveyer belt and whipped out is Bo-staff. Slade had a Bo-staff and it was actually his favorite weapon, second to hand on hand combat. It was interesting how that seemed to be the Boy Wonder's favorite too…

When one end of the staff was broken, the boy merely grinned and extended the other end. However, to the boy's dismay, Robin reached the end of the conveyer belt sooner than expected and went over the edge with the fifth piece of Plasmus. The creature fell to its death, but for some reason Slade felt slightly upset when he realized Boy Wonder was going to die this time. Escaping one fatal fall was lucky—twice would be nearing impossible.

Adieu again, Robin.

The metal break and finally too far for Robin to keep his grip. With a final shout, Robin was jolted and began to fall to his death—

And was saved by a robotic arm that shot out to grab his own.

Slade's fist came crashing down on the control panel before he could calm himself, and at least ten buttons were smashed in as sparks began to fly. He should have known that Cyborg would return. It was just like a child to come back to his friends after a good quarrel.

Friends…who needed them?

Oh well. Maybe he would test them again to see if that was just fate that kept these children alive, or if they really did have any talent at all.

He continued to watch the Titans the rest of the night and _had_ to roll his one good eye when he saw Cinderblock captured in the background. The mechanical monster caught him as a _sorry gift_. How childish indeed…

Mental note to self: _Try to find someone with brains the next time you want to test the Titans_.

His anger left him instantly and he ignored the growling blockhead in the background as he listened on in the Titans conversation. Here was what got his attention—

The two boys were smart enough to put together the little detail that neither Cinderblock nor Plasmus were capable of putting together a plan. Both out in the city doing crime at the exact same time—not likely something that would happen by chance.

A small clap for each of them.

He placed his hands behind his back and watched as the Titans left for home to rest and relax from the battle. But there was a slight moment when Robin stared into the shadows and Slade worried that Robin had seen the camera. A friend called out to him, as usual, and he was quick to reply. He spun around and ran to catch up with his friends, passing the odd feeling of being watched aside.

Yet again, that was close…

-R-

He couldn't help but look. Call it intuition or just the jitters, but he swore someone was watching him. It was just like when your exposed skin burned under the summer sun. There were few places with shade and that meant wherever you went, you would most likely have to put up with the burning sensation on our flesh. It was beginning to drive him nuts.

He looked around and stared off into the shadows, the preferable for someone to put a hidden camera. He was about to go and check too when someone called him, and Robin, not wanting to worry his friends, spun around with a grin and ran to catch up. A much as he wanted to stay, he had to start his research on this Slade guy. Call it paranoia, but he felt that this new criminal could also be behind the little show with Cinderblock and Plasmus. The two of them were just too stupid (Plasmus in his plasmatic sate only, of course) to make up a plan on their own. There just had to be someone else pulling the strings.

He almost shivered. There he was again—caught in his detective habit of obsessing over a case. If he wasn't careful, he'd finds himself in a loads worth of trouble really soon.

But a little research never hurt anyone…

-A-

Well, Boy Wonder, a little turns into a lot and if you knew what trouble you were headed for, you would quit while you were ahead. Oh well, ladies and gentlemen, if not for the Apprentice Episodes, I don't think I would as interested in the Teen Titans show as I am now. I can't have Robin get away with it in my story—I have the pleasure of putting him through that hell again, and this time from his enemy's point of view.

Anyhow, I know this one was short, but there is only oh so much you can write about when you're re-explaining a twenty minute long show (remember that there are commercials in between). I will try to make future chapters longer, and I guarantee that the Apprentice chapter(s) will be long reads because they cover a lot of ground and they are just so interesting. Masks might be a goodie too, but up next is the _Forces of Nature_ chapter unless I throw in my own episode somewhere along the way…Anyhow—I'm up for suggestions if you have any to throw at me (but not hard—I beg of you!), but I hope there's nothing too wrong with my story so far. I know I forgot about the butler, but I'm having an argument against the producers on that subject. They say it's Wintergreen—but Wintergreen was Slade's Staff Sergeant in the Army when they worked together—I highly doubt he would work for Slade like the show suggests, so I'm just going to call him Carlton. Happy? Sad? Just tell me because I've got two ears…

_Bidding you farewell for now,_

_Alexnandru Van Gordon_


	3. Chapter three: Who to choose

Slade's Tale

Alexnandru Van Gordon

Hello again, folks! I'm back with your favorite villain here today and I decided that's it about time we take a teeny tiny look into his past in this chapter along with the next episode. I also had a lot of people talk to me about the _Apprentice_ and _Masks_ episodes, hoping that they will be worth their weight in gold. I assure you—I'm going to put so much effort into those that I just might satisfy your taste buds. It all depends on how much you enjoy reading my style of writing because I really don't know how to write in any other way.

Besides that, let's get on with the show…err…story.

DISCLAIMER: The Titans own their tower, Slade owns a lot, and I—with absolute honesty—own nothing but the idea for this story.

CHAPTER THREE: Who to choose…

Slade was never really like this in the beginning and one would suppose that it is quite important to know a man's history before insanity claimed his mind. Besides, it wouldn't really be fair to the man if you were to only know his darker side.

Where to begin on that subject…? To start, I guess one would have to say he was a little crazy on his own. After all, he did his lie about his age to join the army. For those of you who didn't quite believe what was just said, here's a repeat: _he did lie about his age to join the army_. Nod your head if you think that's a little odd, I know I am. To tip the scale on that part, he worked in the Peace division once. Which one sounds weirder to you? The fact that he lied to get into the army or that the malevolent villain we love to hate actually worked in the Peace division. Now that starts a migraine…

Oh well. While good old Slade was training in a guerrilla warfare session, he met a woman who actually matched his spirit and fighting skills. Adeline Kane…Nice name, but not everything ends nicely. She gave him two sons, Grant and then Joe…but that's something for you to hear in the future. However, it would be rude to leave you hanging with just that little bit of information, so here's a little something to keep you quite—

Adeline is the reason he sees every just and unjust action through his one cold eye. One bullet was all it took and it was delivered with the sweet goodbyes of his _ex_-wife, Adeline…

Who said every story had to end in the sappy Disney parade of smiley faces we're so used to?

His family haunted his mind at times when he didn't keep himself busy, and that is why he made haste to set up another plan. Open to new ideas, he decided to try a more _magical_ approach to his testing of the Titans. He was a man with big entrances and slippery escapes, but he looked to the heaven then-and-again in search for an answer.

That was when it dawned on him.

Doing research (and what else, do you suppose, he would be doing if not that), he came across something ancient and new at the exact same time. It was a set of old texts that popped up on his screen after a little slipping around in some highly guarded files. Thunder and Lightning…What an entrance that would be to use something like that.

Checking the cameras he placed all over Jump City, he did a quick scan of the areas and sighed. It was really annoying to see all those happy people going on with their lives as if life itself was carefree. It made him sick at times, and that's why he decided bringing in a little thunder storm to wash away all their happiness wasn't such a bad idea. But it wouldn't end them.

He was going to let them burn.

Looking into the scripts further, he took note of everything he needed to know and set out to prepare the summoning of the two brothers.

-break-

The ceremony didn't take that long and all he had to do was sit back and relax as the night rolled in. He began to grin when he saw the storm cloud that came with it. Sure enough, Lightning and Thunder couldn't resist the chance at creating a display at the bridge, and Slade wondered if they even knew who summoned them—or if they had be summoned at all. They just started their fun and so the Titans came along.

Routine.

There was something he noticed near the end of the battle when the two ancient brothers slipped from battle and left the Titans to clean up the disaster they created. He was able to note a few moves each Titan displayed, but when he came around to the green changeling and the alien girl…more arguments. First with Cyborg and Robin, and then with Starfire and Beast Boy? Now this was worth watching…

The Titans split up, and, as much as he wanted to see the outcome of the quarrel. He had to move as well. Disguising himself as an old man from the orient, he picked up an east dialect and made his way to find the brothers. I wasn't too hard to find them either. The Titans gave him a helping hand with that part, and they were none other than the transformer and the redhead.

Another grin played on his face and he pulled out one of his little inventions. It appeared to the unknowing eye as an old-fashioned camera, but you were warned not to look _too_ closely at the lenses—but you were more than welcomed to smile. He'd just wipe it off your face in a _flash_. He he…

Aiming, he stood for a moment in the silence of the shadows as he decided which of the two Titans he wanted to kill. Which one's death would affect the team to his advantage…? Hmmm…? The green changeling wasn't much of anything, but it seemed that Boy Wonder had a thing going for the alien girl. He was a fool for not casting aside his crush to keep her safe, and even more of a fool for not gathering his guts to tell her he loved her before they were separated for good.

If it twisted Robin's stomach—_goodbye, Starfire_.

She didn't see the blast until it was too late and he was sure her body would be recovered sooner or later. He knew the changeling beast transformed at the last moment, but his aim was really only to kill the girl. If Beast Boy failed to impress him, he would dispose of him another time.

Finally revealing himself as a harmless old man to the brothers, he told them what the younger brother wanted to hear and gave them the offer of more _fun_. Lightning had no worries, but Slade worried for a second when Thunder took the green boy's words into consideration. That mentally disorder, shape-shifting freak actually had an impact on someone's conscience? What a joke.

All in all, Lightning convinced his brother to come along and so Slade led them to a field he set up earlier. All the signs were made, the chants said, and now all he needed was the powers of the Storm Brothers to awaken Fire. Without knowing, they played into his hand quite nicely and it was too late for them to undo what they did when Fire rose from the ground. The mountain of flames stomped off toward Jump City and that meant trouble for the Titans. Slade knew they weren't going to stop it before at least half of the city was burned down, and that made him laugh as he took off into the night to watch from higher grounds just as the Titans showed up to do their job.

What a surprise he had when he discovered Robin was chasing him. He didn't know he had been spotted until he gave a look around and almost jumped when he saw Robin running after him in the forest. He didn't see the fellow and that was impressive, much like Slade when he wasn't seen unless he wanted to be seen.

He was starting to like this kid.

Being a nice guy, he whipped out his Bo-staff and gave the boy a show. Robin continued to surprise him from there when he blocked with only his arms. Slade knew he was hitting pretty hard (and still not as hard as he _could_ hit) and the boy continued to block with his arms. Either he didn't have his staff with him or he was acting like a fool again. Slade could kill him now if he wanted to. All it would take was a well-placed crack over his head with the Bo-staff and he'd be out like a light…permanently.

The opportunity presented itself to Slade, but something held him back. Whether it was the memory of his two sons who took up fighting jobs on their own or that fact that the boy displayed the young heart Slade once had. Robin was determined and knew he could die…then why did the boy hold back.

The battle ended after Slade decided not to kill the boy. Something told him not to and he didn't know whether to consider it lucky or unfortunate that half of his human mask tore and revealed the orange side of his usually one. Somehow Robin figure out everything rather quickly, especially when he inspected the 'S' at the end of Slade's staff.

"_Slade…"_

_Ooooh_, such venom. It was like a miniature temper tantrum and he laughed to himself at the sight. What else did he expect? Robin was a kid after all.

He wanted to continue but Robin was the leader of his team and his duty was to them. Once more he abandoned the opportunity to discover Slade's true identity to aid his friends, and Slade wanted to grab him by his throat and beat the living daylights out of him. Friends? _Friends_! All friends ever did was ruin your personal agenda. If Robin would have ignored them, maybe he wouldn't be so weak to give up on a fight so easily.

How disappointing…

But…also…_informing_.

That was Robin weakness: his team—his _friends_. He'd put them first when it came to his list and that was such a dangerous weakness too.

Well done, Robin. Perhaps you do shine above the rest…

-A-

Argh! Another short one, well—at least _Masks_ will be longer because we'll get another peek into Boy Wonder's head throughout the show. I have to do that both to make it longer and to also explain things properly. Don't worry. I'll be putting my heart and soul into _Masks_ and the _Apprentice_s, and I hope you like it. Just bear with me for a while, because Not Again suddenly attracted a few new reviews and I have to go and work on the next chapter. I hate waiting long for updates—so I can only imagine how you guys feel.

_Bowing farewell_

_Alexnandru Van Gordon_


	4. Chapter four: Chosen

Slade's Tale

Alexnandru Van Gordon

Okay, okay…deep breath…wow…how am I gonna pull this one off? True to what most of you said, Slade's mind isn't the type of place to dive into without an arsenal of the world's greatest weapons (_Currently floating around in a dark place where tall pillars curve and stretch far up and way, way down. Electricity streaks up and down and in between the columns, one catching Alex._) **Yaowzars!** This place is literally a deathtrap. Anyhow, the sooner I get this done, the better. Now…where is his memories of _Masks_…_ZAP!_ **IYAH! **

DISCLAIMER: I would never want to own a mind this deadly

CHAPTER FOUR: Chosen…

Despite his little loss at burning down Jump City, Slade didn't believe he lost at all. If anything, he won something.

At his desk he continued his work on the latest of his inventions. It wasn't much—yet—just a little something to do with nanotechnology. He would be done soon, but it would be done even _sooner_ if he had the information microchips. They held the schematics for his little weapon, but they were locked up tighter than the Queen's Jewels. Reason being—whoever invented them figured what they had done was wrong, but they didn't have the heart to destroy the information. Slade didn't know what was stupider—making something you weren't going to do anything with, or refusing to destroy something that could only be used to create utter chaos.

See his point?

Oh well…

A hand on his chin, he thought about it for a while. He had been pretty quite for almost weeks since the little incident with Lightning and Thunder, and he was sure the Titans would be edgy to hear from him…

Calling forth a few of his commando robots, he sent them of on a little pick-up trip in Jump City. Wouldn't want them to get rusty, now did he?

Meaning the Titans, of course.

-break-

A room stuffed with supercomputers was bathed in darkness (an odd saying—I know), save for a thick beam of brilliant white light revealing the reason for such high security precautions over the entire building. Levitating in the center was a red microchip as still as stone as though it was really perched atop an invisible pedestal. Not surprisingly, it wasn't the only thing in the room. Stepping into the light was a tall dark figure covered entirely in black with armour protecting certain areas. In the center of its face were an orange circle and two narrow white eyes pinned on the microchip, the reason for it being there. Reaching out to grab it, it halted in surprise as a boy with raven black hair swung to hang upside-down on the other side of the suspension field.

"_Tell Slade if he wants this, he can come get it himself."_

In the darkness of his headquarters, Slade laughed. Get it himself? Why? So he can get caught? Not that he would, but he enjoyed watching Boy Wonder struggle in the dark as he searched for his arch nemesis. It must have been eating him alive from the inside out.

Highly amused by the sudden _guest_ appearance, Slade continued to watch as the meeting became a war.

If simply dropping down wasn't enough for Robin, the young hero added a kick to his flip and knocked Slade's commando back from its stance just as the lights of the room flickered on. Evidently Robin wasn't the only one to keep an eye on the chip for behind him stood the rest of the Titans, all ready for action.

"Attack them." Slade ordered into his speaker and watched as Boy Wonder jumped away from his spot just as a laser beam tore through the ceiling and nearly missed his body. Part of the ceiling fell to the ground and a number of Slade's commandos dropped in to complete the task he sent them out to do.

The battle was quite fascinating, but still the Titans worked as a team. There really wasn't much else for them to do considering everyone in the room was after the same target, the red microchip. Robin did his back flips in avoidance of one of Slade's robots with a laser gun. He ended the little game with a good roundhouse kick to his enemy and ran to the aid of the alien girl as one of the projector lights fell from the ceiling toward her. His timing was right, and he saved them both from a nasty blow just as the dust began to settle and the battle raged on. Many of Slade's commandos were knocked off their feet by the one called Cyborg as he tore supercomputer cabinets from the wall and plowed them over in a single toss.

In the end, Cyborg was the closest to the microchip and was about to grab it when a commando bounced off a wall, sailed toward the chip, and snatch the prize as it landed and bolted for the door. Seeing this, Robin pulled out a birdarang and sent it flying toward the thief with accuracy, whipping the chip from its hands.

"_Mine!"_

The green changeling transformed into an anteater—Slade watched this with interest. The one thought that currently went through his mind was: _Why an anteater?_

Answering his question, Beast Boy proved that he wasn't as stupid as most people thought when he lashed out his tongue and folded it around the chip as he skidded to a halt by the far wall. Stopping was a mistake, and he soon learned that when a commando stomped on his tongue and grabbed the chip just as it was released from his possession. Then, wasting no time, Slade's commando raced toward the exit where the last four surviving robots pulled out smoke grenades and tossed them to the ground.

Slade laughed again. He had, in fact, expected more from the Titans…and even more from one of them in particular. But he couldn't really blame Boy Wonder for their loss. He was their leader all right, but he looked…fatigued, as though a late night project had been keeping him awake. Either the fact that Slade was on the loose was haunting the child's mind, or he was up to something different.

Slade considered both.

"_Split up!"_

Slade can hear Robin's voice clearly, a warning sign that he and his team weren't too far behind the commando with the chip. Trying to make as little noise as possible, the thief paused and waited. Sounds above led Slade to believe that the Titans split up down the main level paths, but the sight of Robin dropping down for the tunnel ladder proved otherwise. Startled, his commando took off once more and was attacked with two of Robin's birdarangs, almost successfully losing the chip. But the chase doesn't end there. Robin continued onward but stopped when a grenade was tossed back at him. Upon exploding, it blocked almost the entire path, but there was still a gap from Robin to see through.

Taking out its laser gun, Slade watched through the camera on his commando as it aimed at the wall of the dead end it reached. Tracing a door shape, piece of the wall was knocked down to reveal the outside of a mountain.

It also revealed the alien girl.

Anticipating your enemy's next move…So maybe she was a little smarter too…

"_I am asking you nicely to stop running and—"_

_ZAP!_

…Okay…maybe not.

As she plummeted downward, the commando jumped after her and switched the jet boosters on its feet on just as it lowered a little farther before zipping toward the sky. It was then that Slade thought it had been over, but Boy Wonder proved him wrong again. His commando jolted to a halt as it was tugged downward and decided to take a look at what was happening.

With two grappling hooks, Robin caught one around his girlfriend to stop her descent and the other to grab the commando as it sped away upward. Carrying a new weight, the commando was thrown off balance slightly and decided suddenly to dive for the water below, Robin and Starfire in tow as the glided just above the water's surface toward shore. Not prepared for such a task, Slade cringed a bit when his commando and the two heroes crashed and tumbled across the sand. The girl remained in the water, visibly unharmed, but Boy Wonder proved to be full of energy as he grabbed Slade's commando and gave it a shake, demanding answers.

What a shock he received when the face came off and Slade stood on the screen to speak with him.

"Excellent work, Robin." Slade complimented with his cool, calculating voice. He was impressed with the day's show of action. He never thought Boy Wonder would take a dive off a cliff and attempt both to save a friend _and_ catch the bad guy at the exact same time.

"_Slade!"_

The screen flickered for a moment at the sound, already damaged enough with the water, sand, and impact of hitting the ground face first.

What a temper.

"Really, I think your skills are improving." He continued; both meaning it and just saying it to get on his nerves. It was just so easy to push Boy Wonder's buttons.

"_No more games—what do you want!"_

Slade was almost tempted to tell him right then and there, but that would take all the fun out of it. Robin was strong, determined, smart, agile, skilled…the list went on, but his obsessiveness to find the answers and win the game were what made him so easy to manipulate without him even knowing he was being played.

_Robin is the one._

The thought came to him suddenly and he smiled behind his mask at the idea. It was hard to say no to it when he knew it was absolutely right.

Robin was going to be his apprentice, his successor.

Continuing to smile, Slade gave him a half-answer. "But you do lack patience…If you're really so curious about my intentions, perhaps we should meet—face to face?"

'_Tell me where you're hiding and I'll be there in a heartbeat!"_

The screen flickered again.

_Yes, Robin, come…Come and you'll regret it for the rest of your life, because once you do you will** never** leave my side…_

Holding back his excitement, somehow Slade refrained from telling Robin that and gave him a more tormenting answer.

"Patience, Robin…" There was another flicker and Slade knew it was time to end their conversation. "_Patience_…"

The screen went blank and Slade simply stood there as he thought things over—mostly his decision _concerning_ Robin. Was that really what he wanted?...

No doubt about it. After monitoring the Titans for so long, Slade finally reached a conclusion—Robin was one of the top child heroes out there. Slade actually doubted there was any kid who _could_ beat him—and maybe even some of the pros would have difficulty with him too. After all, he was taught by the Dark Knight and worked in that hell hole the world liked to call Gotham City.

Slade sat down in his chair and drummed the fingers of his right hand on the armrest. There was something else he noticed…Despite his childish ways and the cloak of innocence he liked to hide behind with his friends, Robin was _just…like…Slade_. Smaller, in denial, and lacking a little patience—but Robin was, in fact, exactly like his worst enemy.

Pondering on that discovery, Slade suddenly stopped in his thinking and listened to the cold silence of the warehouse.

Hating to admit it to himself, Slade actually felt…alone…terribly alone…

But perhaps not for long.

Unable to bare the silence, he stood up and stalked off to work on his nanotechnology. Chips or no chips, he had to continue with his invention. Perhaps later he would find a way to steal microchips containing the information he needed to complete his project…

-break-

Robin wasn't the guy to usually lose his head over one bad guy, but somehow Slade supplied salt to his opened wounds. It was annoying the hell out of him…actually, it was doing more than just that. It was pretty much killing him, like how the fact that the Joker kept slipping away killed Batman.

He wasn't obsessed…was he? He saw what it did to Batman and that led to a lot of unpleasant memories, including one of a certain bullet wound to the heart.

Robin frowned at the memory and tried to ignore the phantom pain in his chest. That was in the past—leave it there.

Trying to ignore that only ended in a circle for him and led him back to his questions of Slade. One, however, stood out above the rest…

_Who are you?_

-break-

Slade was interrupted from his work when his wrist monitor began to beep. Interested, he made his way back to the main room and turned on the screen, and, to his great surprise, his secret cameras detected someone back at the lab.

Currently, all he saw was the red microchip back in its place, guarded by two men. Ha! Like that was helping much! But Slade kept his comments to himself and watched as the alarms in the building went off _looooonnnnnnggg_ after his did. The two guards ran toward the door, laser guns humming to life as they prepared fro an attack…But none came. They waited and looked around, but no one was there.

Then the doors slammed shut behind them.

"_Hey!"_

The lights continued to flash and the alarm was muffled by the door as a new figure suddenly appeared into thin air and strode slowly over toward the microchip.

Slade's one eye narrowed as he inspected the newcomer, certainly not someone he had seen before…

The thief (or so he assumed) wore a skin tight black suit with a crimson red 'X' crossed over his heart, one stroke extending to cover his chest. The figure was also adorned with gray gloves, black boots, and a tattered cape that looked like it had seen War World II. Finally, a black cloth mask was pulled over the head, another skull mask covering the first to hide the person's face. On the mask was another red 'X' with a stroke extending over the right eye.

Slade looked closer at the newcomer and stared at the gray belt that hung slightly lose around the figures waist…but his eyes snapped to the thief's hand as he reached out and took the microchip from its place.

The door was blasted open at that exact moment and the guards opened fire on the new thief. Much to Slade's astonishment, the dark figure leapt up into the air and disappeared into the shadows of the ceiling. No trace left of him in the room…

Wasn't this something…

Slade strolled rather quickly to his control panel and began typing in the codes to his other hidden cameras. He didn't know what to think. He was angry that someone else stole the microchip _he_ needed, but he was also fond of the thief's movements. Stealthy, the boy sneaked in and took the chip in a heartbeat, keeping his job short and sweet without receiving a scratch.

Looks like someone else wanted to play in the ballgame.

His sensors suddenly picked up the thief and Slade's other cameras turned on to show him the boy. The figure was running down a dark corridor toward the fire exit to the roof, the chip in hand. Pulling up his mask so that his mouth was visible, the thief bit on the glove of his free hand and pulled it off to reveal a type of communicator on his wrist. Somehow holding onto the chip, he punched in some sort of code with a free finger and Slade's turned up the volume on his cameras as they continuously changed to keep up with the thief.

The thief spat his glove out into the hand with the chip and continued running as a recording began.

"_I'm working a Slade lead on the far side of town. Sure you guys can handle this without me?"_

"_No problem." _Came the reply of Cyborg. The other voice belonged to Robin, but…

The boy slipped his glove back on and grinned before pulling his mask back down over his mouth. _"Sorry, Cy."_ He said to himself. _"I promise to return this later. Just not tonight…"_

Slade's one eye narrowed even more, if that was at all possible, and the gears in his head started turning. He had a hunch, but he wasn't going to jump to conclusions just yet…

The cameras switched again as the thief broke through a skylight to the roof, bursting out into the night air where the Titans (except for their leader) stood waiting for him.

The mechanical man fired up his cannon arm and took aim at the thief, grinning as he prepared to fire. _"You working for Slade, tough guy?"_

"_Red X works alone."_

The voice was masculine and heavily distorted by some sort of mechanism, something dark and sinister, yet young and free spirited at the same time. _Sounded_ like a thief…

A fight follows after the choppy introduction and _Red X_ seemed not only to having disappearing abilities built into his suit. On each palm was another red "X" and from which shot out the red shape at the Titans either in a sticky, gooey from, or a sharp, flat form. By the end, Starfire was tied up and on the ground, Raven's mouth was covered with an "X", Beast Boy was stuck to the roof in a pile of the sticky red substance, and Cyborg was lying flat on his stomach with the wires on his back sparking—all that work completed in a heartbeat.

The figure jumped off the side of the roof and disappeared from the view limit of Slade's cameras. Left with nothing to watch besides Beast Boy and Starfire wriggle out of their bonds to help the others, Slade turned off his screen once more and thought in the darkness.

This was becoming very amusing…

Turning around, he began to pace around the room. Could he be right?...But Boy Wonder didn't do those types of things. He was determined, but posing as a thief to get to someone was only making him out to look more like Slade. Robin wouldn't…

But he had the capability to…

Wondering many things, time seemed to fly away unnoticed until he was torn from his thoughts by his main computer turning one. Walking over to the piece of machinery, he stood before it with his hands behind his back and came face-to-face with the new criminal in town. How he got his number, he didn't know, but it was obvious this newbie wanted something important to bother someone as busy as Slade…

The first thing Red-X did was hold up the red microchip, a sign that he was here only to do business.

Good. Slade liked that in a person.

"_Rumor has it, you're interested in this."_

Yes. The six o'clock news made sure everyone from here to Gotham knew he was hanging around Jump City thanks to the clumsiness of his robots.

"I'm interested in many things, Mr…"

Truth be told, he was more interested in finding a way to capture Robin, but that could wait for just a moment.

"_X…Red-X." _The criminal said, sounding almost hesitant to give out his name.

"Hmmm…Catchy. So, are you proposing a sale or a gift?"

He knew the answer to that, but it was always nice to see how people reacted to the simplest of questions.

"_A partnership."_ The thief said plainly. _"I give you the chip, you cut me in on your plans."_

That was a trade…Red-X would get a lot out of knowing Slade's plans.

"Partner? My, my, we _are_ ambitious." And it was good that the young criminal said what needed to be said right up front instead of fooling around and getting on Slade's nerves. It was a smart move on the newcomer's part. "But an alliance cannot be forged from one small chip."

He knew the gears in the criminals brain was working. It was a risky move to make a deal with someone as insane as Slade—especially when Slade was the one who was making the terms.

"If you're going to win my trust, I'll require more…"

Red-X needed no time to think that over.

"_Just tell me what you want."_

-break-

He made sure to send some of his commandos out to set up new cameras before night fell as he waited and watched the screens. He was going to monitor Red-X very closely now to settle the uneasiness in his mind. If Boy Wonder thought not knowing someone's true identity drove him nuts, he should see the discomfort it caused Slade.

When night was actually upon the city and everything was cold and quiet, the Titans suddenly showed up…without Robin.

Again, there was that uneasy feeling. All he needed was one look and it would end his curiosity—one mistake on Red-X's part and Slade would know who it was.

There was his hunch…

THERE!

One of the cameras in the alleyway picked up someone moving. It was a figure running into the alley toward a doorway in the side of a building. He was scrambling to put his mask on—

_Robin…_

Or should he say…_Red-X_.

He laughed, hands behind his back as he watched the Boy Wonder enter the building as his alter-ego and disappeared from Slade's ever watchful eye until he reappeared on another camera on the same roof as the other four Titans. Slade noticed that he three a small sphere behind himself that projected a hologram of _Robin_ chasing him, until he was supposedly caught in a net.

Genius.

"_I'm fine! Get X! Go!"_

What a show—and to think, the other Titans didn't have a clue.

This brought upon a new realization to Slade—actually it was a slightly old one that he passed aside too quickly. Robin would go so far as to lie, steal, and team up with a mastermind criminal just to catch the bad guy.

Boy was he in for a rude awakening when he was the one getting caught. Robin was playing himself into Slade's hands, and only if he knew what Slade planned to make of him…Maybe then he wouldn't be so eager to chase Slade down on his own. Oh well—it was too late for going back.

Robin was as good as his.

The screens continued to change as it chased the five—correction, _four_ heroes all the way to a subway, switching the real security cameras that Slade hacked into earlier in case they came to such a place. Robin slid into the shadows, something in his hands…

Slade didn't notice it until now, but Robin had already stolen the next microchip, a blue one. He waited in silence, slowly becoming invisible as the others ran down into the underground subway. They all waited, unsure what to do, but Cyborg seemed to be prepared for the worst. Fiddling with his robotic arm he set up some sort of sensors, and—

—was sent flying backwards from an invisible force. Suddenly, Robin appeared out of thin air and landed on his back, attempting the same trick as last time. This time it doesn't work…

In a quick summary, the meeting leads to yet another battle between the Titans as they fight their disguised leader without the slightest idea of who it is. One thing that caught Slade's attention was the little hit that sent Beast Boy flying onto the train tracks just as a subway was speeding toward him.

Heh…How was Robin going to pull this one off? It wasn't going to be easy explaining his actions after he accidentally killed one of his teammates.

"Red-X" Actually came to Beast Boy's rescue, hurtling them both onto the platform on the others side of the tracks.

Very risky…and _very_ impressive…

"_Dude, did you just save me?"_

How was Robin going to get out of it this time?

_Kick!_

Oh…How plain.

Seeing that it was just to difficult to beat his team without _killing _ them, Robin fled with the chip up the subway stairs and left the Titans with their bafflement.

This was becoming too much. As much as Slade enjoyed watching Robin hurt his friends, he was disappointed that the boy wouldn't ever truly cause them pain. He only fought them when they got on his tail, and even then he showed mercy.

Mercy was for the weak, and _weak_ didn't seem to fit Robin.

But that was something Slade could work on in the future when Robin was in the position to be _perfected_.

-break-

As he suspected, Robin called him up the moment he was away from the Titans, still dressed in his Red-X suit though Slade knew who he really was.

"Impressive, Red-X. I tapped into the security cameras to catch your performance…You treated the Titans to quite a show."

He knew he enjoyed it.

"_Glad you enjoyed."_ Was Robin's plan reply. He held up the red and blue chip, cutting to the chase. _"Is the audition over?"_

"_Patience…_" Slade said coolly, knowing the word sent shivers down the boy's spine. "Trust is easy to destroy—but it takes time to build."

Hands behind his back in his usual stance, Slade pressed a button on his wrist and a small white screen showed in one of the top corners of the screen, revealing the third and final chip.

"Prove yourself and we'll meet to discuss your…_future_…"

The screen went blank and Slade went over the plan inside his head once more.

To put it plain and simple—Slade could have stolen the chips on his own if not for his plan to grade the Titans. Now that he had made his choice, it was time he intervened to get _exactly_ what he wanted.

Robin was going to go and steal the last chip—and when he did, Slade would steal _him. _An ambush was on call for and once Robin was captured, Slade could take as long as he wanted to break that hero spirit of his to make him the perfect apprentice. There was no way he was going to let Robin get away.

Robin was walking straight into a trap…

Soon…

-break-

Robin began to run. This was it…Once he had all three chips he could meet Slade face-to-face and that was when he'd beat the living-daylights out of him. Out of all those days without sleep or food, now his stress would be gone and he could breathe again.

Soon…

-break-

It didn't take him long to take out just about every security guard and set up his commandos everywhere. In the darkness of the room, none of them could be seen unless that main lights where turned on. The only thing that could be seen was the final chip, levitating in a thick beam of light much like the first chip had been. Slade could take it now, but where would the fun be in that unless Robin came?

Sure enough—there was the criminal in making.

Dressed as Red-X, Robin came into view of the light and took the chip simply, inspecting it closely. He knew something was wrong, and Slade could sense it.

Of all the things in the world that you can be, never aim for something you don't want if your real objective is in the other direction. That was something Slade learned long ago—that once you started to change yourself, even for a while, something was bound to keep you that way unless you liked it or not.

If Robin was going to become a criminal, his fate was as good as sealed.

A second beam of light entered the room and Robin turned to stare at it, startled by the change.

"Excellent work…" Slade said as he slowly stalked out into the light.

_This is it, Robin. You're coming with me._

"Honestly, I couldn't have done better myself."

"_So, do we have a deal?" _Robin asked, not seriously meaning what he said. His voice was still heavily distorted by his mask, but, now that Slade knew who he really was, Slade could pick out his voice in the madness.

"Indeed. You and I are so very much alike…" And he meant that. He wouldn't be surprised to discover if Robin was as insane as he was. Sure seemed like it… "It seems only natural that we should be partners…"

Robin pulled out the other two chips from a small pouch and held them up with the third one. _"What are they for? I need to know what we're planning…partner."_

Slade knew he was trying to sound cocky, but even his mask couldn't hide the venom in his voice when he said that last word. All in all, Robin despised the thought of working with Slade.

Just wait until he found out he was his _apprentice_. He'd be doing more working _for_ rather than working _with_.

Now was the time to catch Boy Wonder and give him the scare of his life.

What fun.

"Patience…" Slade replied, smiling behind his mask. "You can't expect me to trust you with such sensitive information right away, can you…_Robin_."

Even he heard Robin's breath catch in his chest, and then one of the commandos behind Robin shot out a net which caught the chips and sent them over to Slade. The next net was meant for Robin, but first the lights flickered on to reveal the ambush he set up earlier, slowly closing in on the young hero…or rather, the young _criminal._

_It's too late now, Robin. You're mine…_

Right then there was an explosion and they were interrupted by none other than the Teen Titans. Never before had Slade been so furious to see them. They usually came when he wanted to see them, but now was not one of those times.

He needed to see Robin alone.

Spinning around, he did something he didn't usually do—fled. But of course, Robin was sure to follow.

That was something else he had foreseen.

Just as he ran through the building, he rounded a corner and slid to a halt, activating the decoy with his wrist controller. Sure enough, further down the hall, a commando that looked just like him sped out form the shadows and started down the hall at a sprint. Slade was just missed by Robin was already had his mask off and was undoing the top of his X suit to show his regular red shirt.

-break-

The night had been an interesting one. Slade was back in his hideout, rewinding his tapes as he re-watched the battle between his decoy and Robin. He actually made it back to the warehouse just in time to see the risky leap Robin made from one building to an even farther one. Slade knew he himself could make a jump like that because he was trained and advanced beyond human limits, and his decoy could make it because it was a robot…but Robin? Hmmm…probably didn't have a fear of heights.

Figures, for an acrobat.

Robin didn't give up easily, even after the rough landing that followed after the jump.

"Careful, I wouldn't want you getting hurt." Slade said into his mouthpiece which was projected from his decoy so that Robin could hear.

"_I'm not the one who's going to get hurt. Now hand them over!"_

Still the temper.

"Robin, I thought we had a deal…"

The decoy and Robin began to circle and Slade grinned to himself. Oh, they made a deal alright, and Slade was going to see it through…

"_Sorry, I have strict rule against giving stolen technologies to psychos."_

A psycho, eh? Was that meant to be an insult, because it didn't hurt Slade in the least. He wasn't insane.

The rest of the world was.

"How very noble of you." Slade mocked, his decoy still circling with the boy. Now was as good as any time to snatch Robin, but something told him that he would need something like blackmail to make someone of Robin's personality cooperate. "But stealing in order to trap me? That wasn't so noble. Two wrong s don't make a—"

"_Don't ever lecture me! Whatever you're planning, Slade, it's over!"_

Uh oh, looked like he hit a sore spot. Head for the hills…or not.

"Oh, _on the contrary_, Robin." He whispered and his grim grew into a victorious smirk. If only Robin knew… "_It's just begin…_"

The fighting followed and Slade observed every move. Despite being small and blinded by fury, Robin did rather well. In fact, he did better than what Slade expected. But when fury blinds you, it keeps you for seeing the simplest of attack and that was why Robin fell over the edge of the building.

Slade paused.

That wasn't supposed to happen.

Punching in the commands, his decoy ran to the edge of the building and grabbed Robin's arm just as his grip slipped. Funny…he kept joking about how Robin (as Red-X) was going to explain saving Beast Boy without giving away his true intentions. Now it looked he was in the same predicament.

Mental note—no more mocking in that sense. You'll only end up jinxing yourself…

"_You…saved me?"_

"I'm not through with you." Was all Slade could think off to say as he twisted himself and threw Robin _hard _back onto the roof. With abilities like his, Robin twisted his body in the air and landed rather nicely on one of the upper beams. Then Boy Wonder jumped back at him and the brawl began again, this time ending with Robin as the victor. He successfully knocked the chips from Slade and strode right up to Slade.

"_This ends now!"_ Robin shouted as he grabbed the front of the mask—

And was utterly disappointed with a screen.

"Patience, Robin…We'll meet face-to-face another time." Hands held behind his back, he fiddled with the buttons on his left wrist before he found the one he was looking for. "Oh, and speaking of _time_…"

Five…

Four…

Three…

Two…

_Goodbye for now_…

One…

…

_Apprentice._

-A-

(_Still floating around upside-down with no help from gravity in Slade's mind, absolutely exhausted._) That guy sure does tire a person out. Having the stomach flu—AGAIN—I was stuck home all day, so I did some research on the episodes and made it more descriptive for you guys. It took me _soooooooooooooooo_ long to write this, I better get no more comments on having short chapters! Sorry…I'm in a crabby mood because I am drained off energy and I've given up on trying to find my way out of this place. To think, this chapter was more than four times as long as my other chapters to this story and the longest chapter I've written for _any_ story yet. And if _Masks _was long…Yikes…Just wait until I get to _Apprentice_. I think I'm going to make that into a two piece… Oh—and I'm sorry if I didn't do much of Slade's thoughts, but I will do _much much much much _more in the next chapters. I was just too tired to think up of a thought for every seen, that and it would have taken me twice as long to write…

(_Heavy sigh._)

I was going to work on my next chapter to _Not Again_ tonight, but I'm just so drained. That, and I can't seem to find my way out of this creepy place. (_Pushes off a column with his feet and starts looking around again_.) But while I'm here, I might as well start looking for his memories for _Apprentice_. Poor Robin, eh? But I hope this chapter explained some of your questions.

And by the way, I am not a girl/lady/woman—I am a sixteen-year-old guy who just happens to like writing. I know a lot of writers on this site are girls, but I for one am not. Sorry, I just had to clear that up because at least one review in each story, someone says something to me like "_Hi there, girlfriend._" Or "_You go girl!_" Sorry. I'm a guy.

_Sinking away into darkness_

_Alexnandru Van Gordon_


	5. Chapter five: Getting what I want

Slade's Tale

Alexnandru Van Gordon

(_Still floating around upside-down in a dark place_) Before I get into anything, I first must say these three things:

ONE) Victor told me he got the idea that he gave me when he read a review from **KaliAnn** on my _Blast to the Supposed Past_ story. So—I have to give credit to her for helping with the story when she said I must know what makes Slade tick.

TWO) I will be working on _Blast to the Supposed Past_. I have the ending planned out along with the beginning of the fourth book, but I have a missing piece to the puzzle that I have to find (or create) first. Just bear with me until I get rid of my writer's block.

And

THREE) I will be doing the _Apprentice_ season one finale in two or more chapters, seeing that it will take me so damn long…sigh.

Okay, now that that's done—look at what I found! (_Suddenly falling, hits the ground and stands, brushing self off. Walks to door and grabs the doorknob._) Hehe—I found the darkest corner of his mind and look at what I found. I swear—I'm sick, I'm lost, and insanity rubs off on you, because now I don't know if I want to stay here or find my way out… (_Turns doorknob and opens it a crack. Nothing but darkness can be seen inside as he slowly opens it more…_) Caution—I've gotten lost in this room once on my own, so please either A) turn back now while you still have the chance; or B) do not stray from the tour. Getting lost will only lead you to a long, agonizing death, because I think Slade knows I'm in here…

DISCLAIMER: If you can hear me Slade—I don't any of this…so please let me out… (_Enters into the darkness of the room…_)

CHAPTER FIVE: Getting what I want

Some say insanity is an unstoppable disease that spreads a never ending pain through-out your mind, which slowly, in due time, leads to the destruction of your body. It drives a man to murder, to suicide, and to just about any crazy thing a person can do. Well, as I said in the very beginning, _insanity is when the foundations of your mind slowly collapse, and the wall, which blocked you out from the truth, finally crumbles and falls_. Now it is time to explore that truth which was hidden all along…

The truth was the fact that life is Limbo. You wake up, you eat, you prepare yourself for the day…in short, you live a routine that you rarely stray from. And, if you ever were to stray from that routine, a new one would begin in its stead. Something is always there to stop you from defeating the impossible—something to always remind you that you are only human. Whether it is hunger or weary eyes, something is there in each new day to remind you of your many limitations. A person cannot fly, breath under water, walk through walls, live without eating or sleeping for years on end, or read another person's mind all on their own. Sure, break down a wall and you can walk through it, catch a plane so you can fly, or take scuba-diving lesson to breathe under water, get to know a person and you can think one step ahead of them—but can you do those on your own?

No.

The cruel truth is, don't stray from the path or awful things will happen to you. Don't jump off the side of a building or you will die, don't speak your mind because you will be brutally silenced, don't murder anyone because _you will go to hell_ when you die—isn't that what we've always been taught? Well, insanity is when you learn this truth and you _believe_ you can surpass all those limitations.

Well…if that was the case, then I guess you can say Slade _isn't_ crazy.

Not in the least bit.

His dilemma—how can you be insane if you can _truly_ surpass all those limitations?

You heard me right, so don't go thinking you're crazy too. Slade can jump off the side of a building and live, Slade can speak his mind and _brutally_ punish anyone who tries to silence him, and Slade can murder anyone he likes because _he won't go to hell when he dies_. Like I said from day one—

Slade is just about immortal.

When that experiment happened, he wasn't just advanced…he was made into something you could only dream of becoming. He could take a bullet to the heart or get blown to smithereens in an explosion—only to have his body regenerate himself and youth'n him each time. Slade can't die because he'll only come back to life—therefore he can't go to hell. And to make things better/worse, Slade can stop anyone because he's more advanced than normal human beings on this planet (excluding the heroes and other villains that go around with superpowers). In short—he's unstoppable. Knock him down, he'll get back up. Get him mad, he'll make you pay. Make a threat; he'll call your bluff.

I guess you could then say that the dilemma was really the Teen Titans. Or, more importantly…Robin's.

And the time to start worrying was _NOW_. Not tomorrow, not Saturday, not Sunday or in May…now.

Why? Because once Slade was sure of his decision, he wasn't going to change his mind. I guess you could say that was one of the things that made him so great. Once his mind was made up, _nothing_ could change it. You'd have better luck swimming to the bottom of the ocean in less than five minutes with nothing but a single breath and your wits about you. Slade could probably do that…but that's not my point. My point is, Slade had his eye on Robin, and now the _real_ trouble would come for Boy Wonder…

-break-

With or without the chips, Slade finished his weapon in due time—actually, in only a couple of weeks. It would take a normal person maybe _years_ at the least, but, then again, he used ninety percent of his brain when we use—what?—ten? Twelve? That's something to look up on…

It was something to behold, a machine gun type weapon that shot out something so small and unnoticeable you would think it was really a spot light. Close. It shot the tiniest of the nanoscopic probes that went straight through the pores in the skin to the blood vessels where they attached to the red-blood cells and stayed that way until controlled to do otherwise. And, with a push of the button, miniature explosions could destroy a person from the inside-out.

Fascinating—isn't it?

He inspected the gun once more before smiling to himself. In the beginning, he actually didn't know what he'd use it for. It seemed that, if he wanted to take over the world, he would need something sinister and devious to do so, but he didn't quite know who would be the first lucky patient for him to test it on. But, as he was inventing the machine, someone caught his sight.

Robin.

That was where his dilemma came up. He knew that, being as strong willed as he was, Robin would not succumb to Slade even if it meant death, but Boy Wonder actually presented a solution to Slade's problem.

Friendship.

It sounded easy, but it was the truth. Robin was a sucker when it came to the well-being of others. After all, he was a hero—but not for long. Slade was edging to use his new invention, but a new problem arose—how was he going to shoot the other Titans? It wasn't exactly like they would stand around and let him, and he was sure that Robin would jump in the line of fire just to save them.

He was going in a circle… and he hated circles. He liked triangles—because it represented the first three elements of turning away from the light all heroes follow: viciousness, dishonor, and ruthlessness. Without those it meant you had a heart—and hearts were for the weaklings. Start out with those three things and you will turn out just fine in the cruel world of today.

Something came to mind when he looked a pile of metal pieces he hadn't used. He found a lot of thing sin the old warehouse, and with a little paint and polish he could build some sort of decoy…But what would he build?

Something concerning time, perhaps, seeing that he had so much of it…

And v'walla! He came up with a…chronotron detonator? Well, at least it sounded plausible…

-break-

Sneaking off to the piers was reasonably easy considering so many gangs liked to hide out in odd places like that. Finding an empty warehouse there was even easier, and, to add to that, there was an underground passage that led from there to his hideout—how wonderful! Sending some of his commandos out on their own, they released Cinderblock from prison just as Slade had the rest of his robots set up the decoy. There was a path from the warehouse to an underground waterway that they could use when it was time to split the Titans up, and besides that everything else would fall into place on its own.

Perfect.

That left that call.

One of his robots held a lap-top and opened it before Slade as he stood next to the decoy covered in tarp. Opening the top, the screen turned on and Slade hacked into the Titans' computer system. Or, to put it nicely, he gave them a seriously early wake-up call. He was the evil mastermind and that meant he chose the time and place everything was going to happen—that, and Boy Wonder might not be as good a fighter if he was still deprived of sleep even after his Red-X episode. Well, Slade would see…

The one to answer was none other than Cyborg. Always plugged into the tower's system, it was only natural that he'd be the first to wake if there was an emergency, followed shortly after by the alien girl Starfire and the demon witch Raven. Beast Boy came next and _then_ Robin…which was half a surprise to Slade. But, looking over the young hero, Slade noticed the air of fatigue about him like he was restless and just ran around half the world.

Nightmares?

Definitely.

Leaving his questions to himself, Slade began with a simple apology. "Good morning, Teen Titans. I do hope I didn't wake you."

The youngest of the bunch, Beast Boy yawned and looked at Slade none-too-happy. _"What are you, an insomniac? Who calls at five in the morn—OW!"_

The Goth girl elbowed him sharply in the ribs and he fell silent, glaring at his friend for interrupting him. And to answer his question—yes, he did suffer from insomnia, seeing that he really didn't _need_ to sleep. And who called at five in the morning? Obviously he did.

"_What do you want?"_ Robin snapped, drawing Slade's attention away from the green changeling. Yes, here was the reason for the call—Boy Wonder. He was always the one to cut to the chase…

Slade decided to get on Robin's nerves today. It would be interesting to see how much stress he could take in such a tired state. "Well, that's precisely what you've been trying to find out, isn't it? And despite of all your efforts, you're still in the dark about my _intentions_." He mocked and knew he wounded Robin badly with that comment. "_Disappointing_, Robin. I expected a little more from you."

That added salt to the opened wounds and Robin decided it was time to fight back. _"Like I care what you—"_

Slade pushed further and rudely interrupted him. "But since you've been unable to discover my plan, I suppose I'll just have to reveal it myself."

That did it. Not only was Robin hurt by the insults, he was visibly wounded at being called—and proven—weak. Slade knew Robin hated that word just as much as he did, just another thing that made them so similar.

His commandos pulled the tarp off the decoy and the five Titans stared at the decoy in confusion. All of them besides Beast Boy seemed to have a general idea of what it could be.

"I'm sure you're all familiar with the concept a chronotron detonator?"

The gasps and the replies of disbelief were expected, but he didn't actually think the smallest of the Titans would not to understand what it was.

"_Ummm…what's a crouton detonator?"_

_Chro-no-ton_—not crouton!

"_It eradicates all chronotons within a localized area, utterly destroying the temporal component of the space-time continuum."_

Nice explanation for a girl who nicely asked a villain to stop running.

"_Hmm?"_

Oh, for goodness sake! He didn't have time for this even if it was comically amusing.

Raven gave him Beast Boy an odd look before explaining in an easier-to-understand way. _"It stops time. Permanently."_

Thank you.

As the green one fainted, the others ignored him and Cyborg spoke up, making up Slade's plan even though he really didn't have one for the decoy. _"If he triggers that thing downtown, it'll freeze-frame the entire city!"_

Maybe he'd one day create such a weapon, but right now he had better things to do, and so his eye fell on Robin.

'_Tell me where!"_

Nowhere. This is no such thing as a chronoton detonator…yet.

"You're a clever boy, Robin. I'm sure you and your little friends can figure it out." Then he held up the fake transmitter, grinning behind his mask as the Titans ate it all up like kittens to milk. "However, since I control the detonator, time is _not_ on your side."

The screen shut off immediately and he turned to the rest of his commandos. "Load up the detonator and get going, but give them some time to catch up. Knowing them, they'll figure out where it is in no time too soon."

Actually, he was making sure they found out sooner rather than later. Even though his decoy was…well…a _decoy_, he made sure to make it with a metallic chromium core. Reason being—he went through the histories of all the Titans and made note of things they would take notice to, such as…something that sparked their allergies. Starfire wasn't very secretive about the fact that she was from another planet and that made it all the more easier for Slade to discover that she was allergic to metallic chromium.

Fancy that.

Watching as they carried the decoy away Slade fiddled with the transmitter in his hand. Around his wrist was another controlled, one he could detach from his arm and hold in his hand like the transmitter—whichever way was easier.

This one controlled the real threat.

-break-

Back at his hideout, he watched the screens patiently and waited until the door burst opened to the warehouse and the five Titans came storming. The look on their faces was amusing when they saw the decoy wasn't there.

The alien girl levitated above her friends and did a double-take on the room. _"Empty?"_

"_Aw, man!" _Cyborg shouted, clearly embarrassed about being fooled so easily.

Slade's ignored them and fell on Boy Wonder, the next person to speak.

"_I don't believe this!"_

_You won't believe what I'm going to tell you, either._ Slade thought to himself and continued to watch as his commandos jumped into view to give the Titans a little fun. _I can hardly wait until I see the look on your face…_

"_Great. Now what do we do?" _The green one complained.

Robin didn't have to think hard about that. _"We fight."_

_Excellent._ Just the attitude he was hoping for.

When Robin was angry, it was very apparent to everyone around him. Not only did he fight—he fought viciously…the first step of becoming a true villain. Robin didn't know it, but he was becoming more like Slade with even given moment and there really wasn't much left he could do to stop himself. He just seemed to be getting himself into deeper trouble with every punch, kick, and well-placed twirl of his staff. It was almost like a dance—as though he knew the next move of each and every single last one of Slade's commandos. And there was no one to stop him. Even his friends stood aside as he beat the robots to scrap—and, in the end, it took the alien girl's interference to stop him in his fit of rage.

He'd better watch that temper of his or it would get him into a load's worth of trouble.

"_We are victorious." _Was Starfire's excuse to stop him from fighting, but Slade laughed as Robin turned sharply on the girl he undoubtedly loved.

"_Slade's got his finger on the button, and we've got nothing! Does that sound like a victory to you?"_

Oh…it was eating him alive that he was losing, wasn't it—and he couldn't _stand _it. It seemed as though Slade's last comment really did a number on his ego, and he was such a fool to fall for it. He was hurrying to save the city—when he was really hurrying to f all into Slade's hands. Robin would probably hit himself when he found out Slade's _true_ intention…

His hidden cameras followed the Titans as they left to continue the search, and Slade watched with interest as Robin beat an innocent man who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time—which was quite a dishonorable act.

There it was—the second step.

His friends held him back, but they didn't know when to start. Slade couldn't help but grin when Beast Boy stepped forward and argued the truth with his leader—

"_You know, just 'cause we're trying to catch Slade doesn't mean you have to act like him!"_

Ouch…the green one didn't know how deep that cut Boy Wonder.

"_Don't you ever compare me to him!"_

But why not? It was obvious to Slade, obvious to his friends—and it was obvious to Robin that that was the cruel truth. Not matter what excuses he made and no matter how long he was in denial, Robin was, in fact, just like Slade. There was no ignoring it.

After that show, Starfire's allergies kicked in on time and the Titans clued in that they had a homemade tracking device on the team. They found the waterways and climbed down into the darkness, walking through the murky waters as they searched for the decoy. It was then that Slade cursed as Robin began an _apology_. An apology? That was certainly not in his character and that shouldn't happen if he was to succeed in showing the third and final step of becoming a true criminal.

"_Look, guys, uh…about earlier—"_

Damn him!

"_It'll have to wait."_ The demoness interrupted and pointed to the decoy on a ship.

That's twice Slade had to thank her in one day.

That was when Cinderblock fulfilled his task for the night. Timing correctly, he shoved one of his stony fists through the wall and caught Robin, pulling Boy Wonder into the room next to the waterway. The other Titans stopped to wait, but Robin urged them to get the decoy—and they listened. If he wasn't their leader, perhaps then one of them would have stayed behind and utterly ruin Slade's plan, but because Robin had power over them, he was able to play himself further into Slade's plot. Now was the time.

Half of Slade's screen showed the four Titans chasing after the ship while their leader battled Cinderblock until he had might as well had been dust. There it was again—his true vicious nature, the one where Robin should no mercy.

Good, because mercy was for the weak.

Then Robin noticed the tracking device Slade gave his commandos to give to Cinderblock. Robin was too pumped with adrenaline to think straight and didn't question why Cinderblock had it on him. All he cared was that it showed him where Slade was…

Now he was trapped for good.

-break-

The wait wasn't long and Slade knew he didn't have to monitor Robin anymore. He watched the other Titans in the time being and urged them on as the chased the decoy. They had to be implanted with the probes before Slade's blackmail was worth anything.

"Hurry, young Titans….Your time is running out."

Actually, his was. But he only had to keep Robin busy for a time being until that happened. And that, in its self, would be very entertaining.

The hidden door on the catwalk above and behind Slade was suddenly blown open and he didn't need to turn around to see who it was.

"Actually—we just went into_ overtime_."

Slade smiled behind his mask. This was what he was waiting for.

"Robin. Welcome. I've been expecting you for some time…I was beginning to wonder if Cinderblock was too much of a challenge."

The insult did the trick and Robin dropped down onto the platform to face Slade.

"Looking for this?" Slade asked as he held up the transmitter. To tell you the truth, Slade knew Robin would fight him even if he didn't have blackmail like this. In reality, Robin loved the thrill of the fight, and what would be more thrilling than to battle a man who had haunted your mind for nights on end?

He waved it once and watched as Robin tensed.

"Well…" He set it down and took a step back, taunting Robin even further. Maybe if Robin hadn't such a bad temper he would have never found himself in this mess. But then again, without his temper he probably wouldn't have trained so hard to become the best that he could be. It worked out for Slade either way. "…here it is. If you want it, come and take it."

Then Robin attacked.

The battle went on for quite some time, and it didn't seem to be going very well on Robin's part. Not only was he exhausted from the past two battles, but he was blinded by his fury _again_. There was a moment, however, when Slade panicked. He set a small mechanism on his wrist controller to vibrate once when the targets were in range and a second time when his nanoprobes were shot. It hadn't happened so far and his real fear came when Robin purposefully took a hard hit from Slade to land near the transmitter. He had to get up and leap toward it, and that would spoil the entire show. So, thinking quick, Slade delivered a side-kick to Robin's waist the moment he was perpendicular to the boy. It sent Robin flying, but somehow he landed and faced Slade once more.

"Come now, Robin. You'll have to do better than that. I haven't even broken a sweat."

The insult added fuel to the young boy and Robin snarled as he readied for an attack. Of course Slade gave him what he wanted and exhausted the boy further.

Catching Robin's fist after a hard punch, he started handing out comments. "Good technique."

Honestly—it was very good technique for a kid Robin's age. It was better than what he saw most adults do.

Smirking, he bent Robin's arm upward sharply at the elbow and listened to Robin's yelp just after the sound of bones grinding together warned that his arm would break soon. The hold soon transformed into a hold and Slade spun around, grabbed Robin by the back of his shirt, and threw the Titan across the room where he slammed into a wall. Somehow, even after the brutal throw, Robin forced himself to stand, which was something Slade admired.

"Good…" He mocked. "But not perfect."

Fueled by fury, Robin attacked again and again and again…only to be hit or blocked by Slade each and every time. Slade was built for never-ending battles—Robin was not. Robin was a child who was far beyond exhausted and too frustrated to think his attacks threw before he completed them.

That was why he had already lost.

After another unsuccessful punch, Robin accidentally left his chest open to attack, and Slade took advantage of this. With a good kick to his rib-cage, Robin was sent tumbling backward until he lay on his front on the floor. Still somehow he mustered the energy to continue and slammed his fist onto the ground in disappointment.

Slade observed him for a moment. Yes…Robin was the right choice after all. Robin would be able to handle all those brutal years of training that awaited him in the near future, and what a piece of art he would be when Slade was finished with him.

"I understand your frustration, Robin. You hate losing as much as I do. One of the many qualities we have in common." He knew that was the last thing Robin wanted to hear and he was right. Robin answered with an uppercut to Slade's jaw, followed by a series of other blows to Slade's head. It hurt, but Slade allowed for it to happen.

Ruthless…the third piece of the puzzle.

His controller gave the first signal.

As he fell onto his back into the shadows of the room, Slade watched as Robin went over to the fake transmitter and picked it up, thinking that victory was his. "It's over Slade!"

Slade stood and refrained from laughing. Now was the time to claim what was his.

"_On the contrary, Robin._" He replied in his cool, calculating voice.

Robin stared at the transmitter in disbelief as the fragile piece of junk sparked and crumpled to nothing in his hand. The look on his face was of utter disbelief and confusion.

"_This is only the beginning…_" Slade added as he stalked out from the darkness.

"Where's the real trigger?" Robin demanded, not in the mood for more games.

"Trigger?" Slade asked innocently. "There is no trigger—_because there is no detonator_."

Robin's eye widened and almost looked like horror…but it was masked even more so by confusion. Of course Robin didn't understand the predicament he was in. He was a foolish child that could be molded into something greater.

His controller gave the second signal and that meant now was the time to tell Robin the grand truth he probably didn't want to hear.

Slade circled halfway around Robin until he stood before the five largest of his massive screens. They turned on five seconds after the probes attached to the red blood cells and showed the process on the screens, confusing Robin even further.

"Nanoscopic probes." He explained and Robin frowned slightly. "The chronoton detonator was merely the bait for a much larger trap."

_Your trap. Now listen carefully…_

He revealed his left arm just as the controller detached itself from his wrist and slid nicely into his hand to show Robin who was patiently listening in a silence Slade was grateful for. "You see, with the push of a button—" He saw Robin glare at the controller as he poised his thumb above the button. "—my probes will destroy your friends form the inside out."

"You can't control them!" Robin argued, almost as if ordering Slade not to do anything to them. "No matter what you threaten, they'll never obey you."

Ha! How foolish Robin was to think that Slade wanted anything to do with his team. But somehow he suspected Robin already knew that…Robin knew exactly what Slade was heading toward, but he was just trying to deny it.

He began to pace around robin, watching as the boy began to worry. "This isn't about your friends, Robin. It's about _you_. It's _always_ been about you…"

"What?" Robin asked in disbelief, obviously not wanting to hear this.

"Sending trouble your way. Leaving cryptic clues for you to unravel. I was _testing_ you…" He paused and turned to face Robin, no longer circling the prey he already caught. Now he grew more serious and decided to stop his little game. "For quite some time now, I have been searching for…an _apprentice_—someone to follow in my footsteps." He stepped forward close to Robin and leaned into his face. Robin was _very _quiet now, a serious look on his masked face as well. "And, robin, I've chosen you. _Congratulations._"

That did it. The anger stored inside Robin was released in a yell. "No way would I _ever _ work for—"

_Uh ah, Robin. You're not the one pulling the strings here. You're not even going to decide what you do anymore_.

The instant he held the controller up with his thumb on the button, Robin was abruptly silenced, a look of shock and utter horror on his face as he realized Slade wasn't fooling around anymore. Slade was being serious and Robin didn't like what he saying…not in the least bit…

"If you join me.." Slade started, laying down the harsh rules. "If you swear to serve me, if you never speak to your friends again—I will allow them to live."

Robin continued to stare in mute fear.

"_But_…if you disobey even the smallest request, _I will annihilate them, Robin_." And Slade meant that. Now that he had Robin, under _no_ circumstances was he going to let him go. "_And I'll make you watch_…So? Do we have a deal/"

Robin stared at the controller for the longest of times, a look of weariness and sorrow spreading across his face. His gaze fell on the ground as he answered, ever so softly. "…_Yes_………"

Good.

Now Slade had _exactly _ what he wanted.

"Follow." He commanded and turned off toward the darkness. Robin followed quietly until Slade came to one of his tables. On it was a suit which he handed to Robin. "Change into this." He said and handed it over to the boy who took it regretfully. Robin was still in his state of shock as he went off to change. He took off everything besides the lower half of his suit and slipped the new one on over it. Laying the remains of his old suit over a pipe, his communicator went off just then.

"_Robin? Robin, please respond…Robin, please! You must answer! Robin!"_

Robin would answer only to Slade now.

"_Please respond! Robin…where are you?"_

God she was annoying! How many times did she have to repeat herself before she realized no one was going to answer? Slade had half a mind to crush the communicator, but it made Robin cringe the last time she said his name, a sore reminder of his past life as a friend, a leader, and a hero.

He'd have none of that in the future.

Robin buckled on his new armor and Slade turned his gaze away when Robin changed his mask. That was something Slade respected without question. A mask hid your past, and that was why Slade wore one—to hide his fear and his pain from all the things that happened to him before he became as strong as he was now. Masks destroyed your past…

Just as Robin's new mask was destroying his old past.

Once he was finished, Slade couldn't help himself but stab Robin again with his snide remarks when he stood behind the boy who loathed him.

"I know it seems bad…" He said, trying to sound comforting in a mocking way, but telling the plain truth at the exact same time. "But trust me—_you'll learn to like it_…"

He walked off into the darkness to leave Robin with the horrible silence Slade had to put up with for so long, leaving him with his thoughts.

_Which is worse, Robin? Losing, or the punishment of losing?_

-A-

(_Exits the dark room and suddenly gravity is gone again. Alex is floating around in midair again._) Well, I think that's enough for one day. I'll o back there tomorrow, but I have to do a headcount first…One, two, three, four, five…hey. I think we're missing someone. O.o? (_Stares back at the closed door and shivers._) I'm exhausted, lost, and now I have to find someone else. Isn't this just great…

_Floating around upside-down, while slowly going crazy,_

_Alexnandru Van Gordon_


	6. Chapter six: 'Keeping' what I want

Slade's Tale

Alexnandru Van Gordon

(_Still stuck in nowhere…somewhere…in Slade's head. Lands on ground and moves toward the door._) Hello again, and welcome back to this crazy documentary on the complicated mind of Slade. Sorry it took me so long to write part two—I hope it wasn't killing you. I had to gather what sanity I had left to do part two and I also had to find a couple of missing people, but now that you are all here please try to stick together. If you see someone wandering off, grab and shake (or beat) some sense into them. Thank you.

Now, shall we continue?

DUSCLAIMER: (_Shiver_.) Give me three reasons why I would want to own _this_…

CHAPTER SIX: Keeping what I want

Time seemed to go at a stable pace since his only problem was solved. Now that he had a sure successor time wasn't slow like it had been when he was left in dull silence or fast when he worked nights on end to create those many plans that failed. But he was sure it was long and agonizing for his apprentice…

Robin wasn't one to give in easily, an admirable trait when you thought about it. He always frowned or tried as hard as he could not to look at Slade when his master talked to him, determined not to give into something that was in everyone—something that needed a little push. It was the sanity that people called insanity but really wasn't the insane sanity the so-called sane people made it out to be.

Understand, or did I lose you somewhere back there?

To put it in simpler words, Robin had the potential to be the best of the cruelest, but he was holding back because he was afraid of becoming something great. What a silly fear! But it didn't matter; luckily Slade found him or he probably would have died as a hero.

What an awful thought.

"_Robin? Robin! Please, Robin—where are you…?"_

Truth be told, he was getting a migraine from listening to her call all night and day, trying to get Robin to answer when he wasn't even allowed anywhere near his communicator. But Slade kept it on because, besides his wanting of Robin's full submission, he left in on as a punishment to Robin for choosing the wrong side in the beginning. Even more so for his little stunt an hour or so after getting caught.

Last night Slade left to just check up on something he had on the table, another one of his inventions on the workbench which was a controller of sorts. It was just a little idea, you know, to be able to _influence_ someone's words and actions. Not so much as the thoughts, but to control a person's body was a powerful weapon. He'd never use it on Robin, wanting him to learn and grow on his own, but this could be used for a person possessing a higher of status in society…

The act was not entirely unexpected. He had smoke bombs in his belt that he used when he was in a situation too sticky for his taste. Obviously he either dropped one or Robin somehow got it off him because the room suddenly filled with smoke and Slade wasn't having the happiest of times trying to find the source of the attack. He did, however, hear something move on his desk and then the clank of Robin's boots as he dashed toward the door to the main room where the main computer sat.

Spinning around, he blindly ran for the door and ran into the kid just before he turned on his communicator. Stumbling outside the small office, Slade kicked the door shut behind him to keep out the majority of the smoke and wrestled the communicator from Robin's hands. It wasn't easy, but in the end he knocked Robin back with a smart back-slap to the face and attached the communicator to his belt.

He underestimated Robin.

Besides a few hits in the attempt to pry the item from his fists, Robin wasn't punished further, seeing that this was a first-time offense. But he did give him a little trouble.

"Seeing that you have so much energy, I think it's about time you went outside to get some fresh air." Slade said and saw the wariness in Robin's expression. "You feel like seeing your friends?"

Robin said nothing, but his masked eyes narrowed in response. He knew what he was about to hear wasn't going to be anything good on his behalf.

"Ever hear of the thermal blaster?"

Robin frowned instantly in a natural response to such a question, knowing where Slade was heading at with this.

_Yes, Robin, you're going to steal. Like it or not, you are going to ruin your past appearance to make room for the new one._

He gave the orders and watched Robin leave, a look of distaste on the former Boy Wonder's face as he left in silence. He knew Robin wasn't going to enjoy meeting up with his friends as a thief and would probably do anything in his power to get in and out undetected. As impressive as that would be to see, Slade hacked into the security cameras of Lex Corp. and the alarm system as well and watched from an outside camera as Robin dropped down from another building Kamikaze style and landed rather well. It wasn't long until Robin dropped down from a roof panel and quietly pulled out a bomb from his belt and chucked it at the glass container circling the thermal blaster. Two sharp blades protruded from either end, signed with Slade's trademark 'S', stabbing into the framework and cutting down quickly with the flash of tiny lights. Then it was activated and Robin walked through the small cloud of smoke toward his objective.

Frowning, Robin took the weapon and stared at it with disgust. Slade laughed to himself as he watched the boy when he activated the alarm system. As much as Robin hated himself now, he would get used to the idea that life was just a milder version of hell. You do some things you dream of doing and then you do everything else at the will of someone crueler and more powerful than you. You can either adapt to that strange fate or die trying to avoid it.

Easy as A B C.

Startled, Robin fled.

"_He's got the thermal blaster!"_

_Go ahead, Robin. Run and see what's waiting for you._

Robin saw how this wasn't getting him anywhere and he was right. Somersaulting and pulling out his grappling hook, Robin shot at the roof and went flying in a flash just as the guards rounded the corner. They missed him entirely as he hung upside down on the roof, watching them with the same frown on.

Slade tapped into the communicator he gave Robin and laughed freely for Robin to hear. "Don't look so angry, Robin." He said and watched as Robin's eyes narrowed. "Now leave before something else goes wrong. I'm very disappointed that you tripped the alarms."

Robin gritted his teeth and refused to reply. He did, however, listen and dropped down onto the ground, off again at a run.

Then _they_ came and Slade grinned.

"_Freeze!"_ Cyborg shouted, now obviously the one to take command if ever Robin was absent.

In the dark of night, his four friends couldn't see his face, only his figure. The moon chose to hide behind the moon just then and Slade's grin left instantly. He wanted them to see him—wanted them to give up hope on him so that they would leave him to his future.

Seeing that he was in nothing more than a ton of trouble, Robin fled down a walkway toward the outside of the building, his former friends in hot pursuit. He reached the end and was met with a wall, turning around just as the moon chose to reveal itself. The light was brighter than Slade expected and robin's face was shown clearly as he faced the four remaining Teen Titans.

"_That's not Slade, that's…"_ Beast Boy said, stating the obvious.

Then the alien girl's expression changed to one of utter devastation and disbelief—much the same as Robin's had been when Slade told him that he would be his apprentice and successor. It was apparent that the truth really hurt young children.

Slade looked to one of the lower screens, the one monitoring Robin's vital signs. Despite his worry, Robin was getting _excited_. Adrenaline was rising…everything was rising as Robin began to get _excited_.

Slade grinned to himself. He knew he was right—despite what Robin said, the boy didn't just fight for justice or the perseverance of peace—he fought for revenge and for the wonderful _thrill_ of action and pain and outsmarting your opponent…Robin wasn't exactly a _whole_ hero at heart.

"…_Robin."_

"_Whoa!"_

"_No way!_

"_Robin, why are you—"_

Slade could see Robin panicking even though he probably appeared menacing to his friends. To solve his problem, he pulled out a flyer and threw it at Starfire, driving her back along the walkway toward the other. The attack was merely to frighten her away, not hurt her, but the others chose to see it in another way.

"_Yo!"_ The mechanical monster yelled.

Beast Boy seemed to look greener than ever and added a stupid. _"What's your deal?"_

As much as Slade would have loved to press the button and end their pathetic lives right then and there, he knew he had to keep them alive until his control over Robin was complete. They didn't deserve to live for all their meddling and for all the wrong decisions they foolishly made in life, but there was that pain attached to them that Robin had. He would do _anything_ to keep them alive and that was good enough for Slade.

Robin looked to have a conflict going on inside his head that he wanted to tell them everything right now while he had the chance, but Slade decided to intervene. If Robin couldn't make up his mind and make the right decision, Slade would just turn him in the right direction.

"Not a word, Robin." He warned and Robin scowled at his master's voice. "They're not your friends anymore."

_And that will be made certain when I kill them._

Robin aimed the thermal blaster he just stole at the walkway and opened fire. The walkway was blow apart in the center, creating an obstacle between him and his friends. Slade would have preferred to see Robin fight them, but it was obvious he was going to avoid that at all costs, but with time that could change…

"_Robin…"_

Slade listened to the girl as Robin faded into the smoke and stepped up on the wall; he pulled out his grappling hook, took aim and swung down to the roof of another building, taking off into the night as his friends tried to make any sense out of what they just saw.

Slade turned the main computer back to its blank screen and walked off into the darkness, waiting for when his apprentice returned.

This was going to be harder than he hoped. Robin was a little too strong. He had to have his spirit broken if Slade ever wanted him to become a true villain at heart. The plan was to change Robin so much that he was a criminal at hear—by his own will. Then he'd let Robin dispose of his friends. Soon, after they abandoned trying to save him, after he learned that he wasn't going to return to them _ever_…then perhaps he would gather the strength to kill them.

-break-

One of these days he was going to kill him. He didn't care about his code of honour where no one deserved to die no matter how cruel or unjust they were—

He was going to _kill_ Slade.

-break-

Robin came into the darkness and Slade watched him from one end of the room as the boy stood before the five main computer screens and looked around in search of his master. In his hand he held the stolen good he had taken from Lex Corps.—the thermal blaster. It was a neat little toy, but it was nothing like what Slade created. It was nothing compared to the controller he was inventing and the nanoscopic probes he implanted into Robin's friends.

It was really all just a test.

"Excellent, Robin. I'm pleased." Slade said as one of his spot lights turned on and illuminated the boy. "You're already proving to be the _perfect_ apprentice."

"This _deal_ can't last forever." Robin shot back in defiance. There it was again…his show of strength. Slade could hardly wait until he saw the boy finally submit entirely.

"It can..._And it will_…" He pressed a button on his wrist and the row of monitors flashed on, showing Robin the ordeal he missed last night. Robin watched in awe and horror as he saw everything Slade told him last night come to life before his eyes. Now he knew Slade wasn't lying.

Slade's blackmail was hard to destroy.

"The Titans have no idea that my chronoton detonator was more than a decoy. Now that my probes are inside their bodies, they could remain undetected for years—_decades_."

He added that last threat and saw Robin's shoulders drop slightly as he counted the years of his life that he'd spend as Slade's apprentice. When you were young, even one year seemed like a lot. When you were forty or fifty, ten years was a little long, but to someone as young as Robin, ten years was close to two thirds of his life. And that was _much_ longer…

The show finished and the screens went blank.

"_Unless_, of course, _you disobey me_—"Slade said with distasted, stepping out into the light so that Robin could see him. "—and I decided to destroy your former friends with the push of a button."

The controller slipped into his hand and he showed it to Robin, killing off any ideas the boy had running through his head. He wasn't going to let Robin build up hope, because hope was petty and hope was strength. Slade had to destroy any defiant sources of strength for Robin and then he begin his real work on the boy.

"Sooner or later, you'll let your guard down." Robin threatened; surprising Slade slightly that he still chose to fight. But weren't threats dishonorable, something that brought Robin closer to his future self? "I _will_ get that controller, and the instant they're out of danger, you _will_ pay."

But Slade was seeing to it that that never came to be.

Oh, he did so enjoy seeing a person suffer.

Slade stepped toward him and his one eye narrowed as he gazed down at the boy. "That sounds like a _threat_, young man." He snarled and took the blaster from Robin. Quite a good threat, actually. Betrayal, destruction, revenge. We really do think _alike_."

Another cup of salt to the wounds.

He knew Robin could hold out on that insult and held the controller slightly out to humor the boy. Sure enough, Robin took the bait and spun around reaching to grab to controller with his quick hands. He was a fast little devil but Slade was faster and grabbed Robin's wrist in one quick motion, bending his arm back sharply until the grinding sounds warned of bones on the brink of breaking. Robin bit back a yelp, but Slade could hear him grinding his teeth together, trying to look strong despite the immense pain he was dealing with.

It was amusing—really.

"I monitored you vital signs during the mission." Slade said plainly as Robin struggled to avoid a broken arm. "Elevated heart rate, adrenaline, endorphins…You won't admit it, but at some level you _enjoyed _stealing for me. It was a _thrill_, wasn't it?"

He felt the shiver that ran along Robin's spin just before he released his arm. Robin stumbled forward and spun around while rubbing his sore arm with daggers in his eyes. He hated Slade and Slade didn't mind. Hate is vital in survival. It is what drives you to do the unthinkable when you need to do it most and evens out the score when you're thirsty for revenge. Without it, you'd be as innocent and stupid as that annoying alien freak, Starfire.

Slade took the blaster over to his table and started adjusting it to enable the user to fire it off their arm. He removed the muzzle and started fixing it to his liking as he continued to lecture the boy.

"You're going to keep stealing, Robin." He explained simply, making it clear that Robin wasn't going to avoid the _excitement_ he unwillingly felt when he was in action. "And you're going to keep getting that _thrill_. And sooner or later—you will see things my way."

_The foundations of your mind will slowly collapse, and the wall, which blocked you out from the truth, will finally crumble and fall._

He turned around with the adjusted weapon and walked up to Robin, grabbing the sullen boy's arm and attaching the thermal blaster on quickly before he could ask what he was doing.

"Who knows…I might even become like a father to you."

He was suddenly brought back to the memory of his two sons and daughter. His sons were dead because of him and Rose…he wasn't exactly the best of a father, but still, he knew how to be one.

"I already have a father…" Robin said softly, more to himself than to Slade. Slade boiled with rage and that reply, but said nothing. He had attacked enough of Robin's pride in one day and right now he had better things to do than fight with a fifteen-year-old child.

A swarm of bats fluttered out from the rafters as Robin said that and they both looked up to watch them take flight.

_I see_…

It would make sense that Batman's sidekick was also his son—after all, _Richard Grayson_ was adopted by _Bruce Wayne_ after a vengeful Tony Zucco cut the wires at the circus. Slade knew a great deal more about Robin than he thought, and he sometimes wondered what Robin did when his parents fell with a loud _thud_ and died upon impact. Did he cry? Did he kick and scream and try to murder anyone he could take his frustration out on?

Slade was guessing the latter of the two.

"I have another job for you." Slade said and Robin's eyes fell from the bats to his master. "The night is still so young…"

-break-

Once again, the moment Robin was gone, Slade hacked into whatever systems he could and logged onto the security cameras of Wayne Enterprises. And again he sent Robin off to retrieve something that wasn't of any importance whatsoever to him. He was just sending the boy off to his surrogate father's company building in Jump City simply because all robberies were caught on tape and sent to Mr. Wayne within the same day of the crime.

That was another sweet part of revenge—not only showing Batman that he did a better job at keeping control over a kid, but taking _his kid_ to prove it. The Dark Knight seemed like the calm collective type of person, but Slade bet he wouldn't be too happy to see his son now as Slade's apprentice and successor. He might even break a few necks when he heard the news and saw the tape.

He tapped into the alarm system and watched as Robin broke into the building. Slade set off the alarm but kept the lights and sounds off, simply turning on the tapes and allowing a message to be sent to the Teen Titans. The moment Robin was in the room with the device, Slade had enough taped to make certain that Robin was clearly seen by his old mentor. That was also the exact same time the Titans showed up, just as Robin was reaching out hesitantly to steal another weapon he had no intentions of taking.

Guilt? Slade would have to see to getting rid of that…

"_You're not walking outta here, Robin." _The new leader informed Slade's apprentice, but Slade knew that Robin was going to do the exact opposite. He knew how to take down his friends—none of them could stop him. _"Not without a fight…Titans! Go!"_

Ooh, stealing your previous leader's battle cry—pathetic and stupid. But Slade could see the look on Robin face when his former best friend stole your saying as though it didn't matter if he was ever the leader.

"You better stay and fight." Slade muttered to the boy, but not through the communicator. The room wasn't very easy to escape from and that was why Slade sent him to steal something from it—so he couldn't flee from his former friends.

Robin muttered something unheard even to Slade beneath his breath and charged at his friends.

_Don't run…_ Slade thought, trying to will his apprentice not to. _You can't run anyway because—_

Robin dodged Cyborg's punch and leapt into the group. Slade actually thought Robin would stay, but the boy was smarter than what he gave him credit for. Grabbing hold of a thin beam keeping the ceiling up, Robin swung and kicked open one of the panels, flipping out of the room as his four comrades stared after him flabbergasted.

_Damn him!_ This was worse than apologizing!

Robin kicked through the next set of panels and jumped out onto the roof, landing like a cat and gazing around to check for watchers before dashing toward the edge of the roof.

"Not so fast, Robin." Slade sighed into the communicator, not at all pleased with his apprentice fleeing. "You have yet to achieve your objective."

"_The device was too heavily guarded." _Robin tried to cover. It was easy to tell he didn't want to hurt any of his friends, but it was futile to try to outsmart Slade. _"I'll have to steal it another—"_

"NO!" Slade hollered and Robin slid to a halt, just as Slade noticed on his cameras the other Titans climbing the fire escape to get to the roof. "Go back. Unless you want me to destroy them, go back…"

"_Robin!"_

Robin jumped and turned his head to see the Teen Titans waiting for them. The _new_ leader was trying to look understanding, but Slade knew Robin wanted them alive more than he wanted for them to comprehend the trouble he was going through to keep them alive.

"_Look, I don't know what's going on—but we don't want to fight. We just want to talk."_

Robin was wise not to speak, and instead answered with his feet, delivering a lovely side kick to the machine's head. The green changeling then surprised Slade with what he said, being the one to make the best comments when he wasn't acting stupid.

"_Guess there's nothing to talk about."_

Famous last words.

They tried to defeat him—and he tried to save them with petty hits that would simply knock them back so he could make a break for it. The demon girl was gentle with her powers, the alien girl was purposefully a little off with her aim, the half machine banned the idea of using his arm cannon, and the green changeling stopped his array of attacks the moment he hit Robin to hard.

"_Dude, are you okay?"_

Stupid beast.

Robin answered with actions again and sent his friend reeling backwards with a good punch to the jaw. Then the game was on for real and his friends decided that playtime was over.

"Fight to win, Robin." Slade ordered. "Use the thermal blaster."

The demon girl was wide open as she began her chant, but Robin ignored his master completely, still being as stubborn as ever. He hesitated…and let her grab him with her powers, from the neck to knees he was trapped in her shadows besides his right arm, and he controller slipped into Slade's hand. If Robin wasn't going to—

Robin whipped out a disk with his free arm and tossed it at her. It exploded in her face and released a blaze so brilliant, Slade turned his eye away from the screen momentarily until it dimmed. Even then, there was an afterimage shadow over his eye as he blinked to get rid of it. He could only half watch as Robin did an impressive acrobat flip onto of the giant A of WAYNE. Then he fled.

_Dammit!_ Robin was really getting Slade t-ed off…

"_Stop! Do. Not. Move…"_

Robin slid to a halt on the E and started at her in slight surprise as she aimed at him with her hell flame powers. There was no way she could avoid hitting him now at such a close range…

"I thought I told you to use that Blaster!" Slade yelled, losing his patience—a rare thing indeed. "Attack! _NOW!_"

Robin reluctantly raised his arm and took aim at the girl as the thermal blaster hummed to life. They stared at each other with a forced hate, trying to look unaffected and emotionless at the exact same time, but there was a deeper tie between the two of them and that was something Slade worried about.

Finally, Starfire was the one to drop her end of the threat and cooled her glowing hands as she gave into the grief in her heart. Voice trembling, she made and attempt at bringing down Robin's disguise as a villain. She somehow knew he wasn't truly that at heart.

"_Robin, you are my best friend._ _I cannot be in a world where we must fight. If you are truly evil—then go ahead…Do what you must…"_

Best friend? How sappy?

Goodbye, Starfire.

Slade prayed that that little show of affection wasn't going to water down his fury, but it did, and all his vital signs almost returned to normal as he calmed and stared her in a sorry frown. Despite her naïve nature and unquestionable faith in others, her words hit hard.

"_Starfire no. I—"_

_NO!_

"ROBIN! I gave you and order!" Slade yelled and there was horrible feedback on the communicator as it just about exploded in Robin's ear. "_If you won't attack, my probes will…_"

There was a look of panic on Robin's face, and Slade took the controller into his hand, pressing down on the button before Robin could fight for words to say. All Robin had to do was fight them—not kill them or anything. Just fight them, leave them with a couple of broken bones, and return to Slade. That's all! NO—instead he had to let his hero nature kick in and prolong the fight because he was afraid of hurting them.

Well, now they were going to do.

Slade grinned behind his mask as their flesh began to glow a radiant red-orange and they fell to the ground in agonizing pain. Robin caught the alien girl as she fell and stared at her in horror, now realizing how true Slade's words were when he warned that he would truly kill them. Now here they were—dying! Happy yet, Boy Wonder?

"_Stop! Please—stop!" _Robin begged, slowly breaking now that he was on the verge of being responsible for the death of four individuals he cared so much for.

As much as Slade enjoyed seeing the pain it cause Robin, the fact was that he couldn't destroy the Titans without destroying his presently only blackmail. Perhaps when he created more of the probes and implanted them in more innocent people, he could toy with Robin's mind and kill off his friends, but now he had to settle with seeing a sample of him in true pain.

Oh well. There was always next time…

"Attack, Robin. It's the only way to save them…_Attack with everything you've got…_"

"_Robin…"_ The alien girl moaned weakly as he set her down, taking aim with the blaster.

"_I'm sorry_."

Sorry?...Apologizes are for the weak…

But oh well…

Slade watched as the blast jolted Starfire's body before he turned off the probes and continued to view the rest of the battle. But before he did, he said one last thing to Robin…

"_That's my boy…_"

-break-

Eye still hurting, he rewound the camera tapes to watch the battle over again and took note of Robin's moves. True to what his files said—Robin was a born acrobat and a perfectionist of the martial arts. Despite his attempts of fighting a _light_ battle, Robin gave enough of an entertaining show for Slade to watch.

"Thrilling…" He said to himself, waiting for Robin to return. He leaned back in his chair and adjusted the controller so that it sat on the back of his wrist instead of the inside. Staring at it, he smiled. "My apprentice is progressing even faster than I had hoped. All he needed was a little…_motivation_."

He jumped slightly and his eyes widened when a smaller hand grab his wrist and he suddenly noted how stealthy Robin could be when he was in one of his moods. He turned his head to face his apprentice and frowned when he realized the boy was only trying to be more defiant.

"Motivate THIS!"

The fist came for his face but he easily caught it without flinching and wrenched the arm to one side, flinging Robin toward and set of overhead gears. As skilled as he was, Robin adjusted himself in mid air and landed in a crouch on the floor. As he stood up, Slade left his chair and flexed a handful of fingers, actually pleased with the show of the three elements to being a true villain.

"Robin." He said, sounding a little surprised, but _very_ impressed at the exact same time. "That was vicious, dishonorable, and ruthless…_Excellent_ work. You're becoming more like, me every second."

He was over his fit of fury that grew when he watched Robin battle his friends. He was impressed with Robin because he knew how people thought—and soon he could make Robin as uncaring and unjust as he. Then Robin could truly stand by his side and help him to rid the world of the stupid peace and serenity heroes fought to preserve.

Instead of letting Robin fight his friends again, Slade thought it was about time to give Robin a little training session—something of a gift to let him _attempt_ beating Slade for capturing him in the first place. After all, he was trying so hard to be just as vicious, dishonorable, and vicious…

Slade turned away and almost started back toward his chair before he spun around with an array of attacks against Robin. Robin dodged and tried a few counterattacks, turning too much on his last punch and leaving his back open to Slade. Slade slid his arms around the boy and caught his neck and right arm, squeezing the air out of the boy's chest as he lifted him up off his feet. Struggling to breath, Robin swung his leg up and back into Slade's face and caught him dead-on.

Seeing stars, he released Robin and they both paused to catch their breath and clear their heads. Robin was tired, and that meant Slade would in soon, but Robin still had that those bursts of energy that equaled attacks like the one he just delivered to his head.

Damn, that hurt…

Neither took too long to gather their thoughts and Robin thought it was about time that he attacked first. Flipping backwards, he aimed a leg toward Slade's face and started to descend after his angelic flip. Slade was ready for this and looked up, standing at the right time and grabbed Robin's ankle before he could realize his mistake. With his inhuman strength, Slade tossed him like a rag-doll off toward the gears, listening as his shoulder scraped the ground with an eerie nails-on-chalk-board screech.

Robin shouted and frantically reached out to catch something, taking hold of a passing crankshaft to stop himself from flying into the crunching teeth of the gears. Slade watched as Robin's arm was almost yanked from his socket before he ran toward the gears and grabbed hold to lift him up to level with his apprentice. He grabbed hold of many more before standing on a larger one, watching as Robin warily made his way through the gears toward a clear section of the room, stopping by a bank of levers before a cloud of steam erupted in his face.

Slade stepped off the gear to face his apprentice and watched as Robin eyed him cautiously, knowing that the battle wouldn't end until Slade _wanted_ it to end.

"Good, Robin." He said, referring to the kick to the face and the aerobic flip kick. "You're doing much better than last time. A few more years of training, and you might actually pose a _threat_."

He knew he was mocking Robin, but it was the plain truth (didn't you just hate the truth?). He stole Robin fair and square and now he was going too keep him, because lives weren't much more than goods You could trade, give, or _take_ a life, and here was one he took on his own. If Robin couldn't stop Slade from claiming him, no one else could. Nothing was going to change that.

Robin backed away, but Slade could tell by the look of him that he wasn't going to flee. No. He was going to arm himself—a smart move. Grabbing hold of one of the levers, Robin kicked it hard at the base and the metal snapped as easily as a twig.

_Go ahead, Robin. You're really only continuing to impress me._

He gave it a twirl before taking up his stance, and Slade replied by arming himself with his own Bo-staff. Extending it as more steam rolled out beside them, Robin attacked first again and charged Slade with his weapon raised. Slade parried his attacks with ease and they finally braced against each other with their full strength. Though strong, Robin was small and light—easy for Slade to shove back, hit high, and drive him back into one of the pipes.

Robin looked dazed for a second before he leapt upwards the moment Slade stabbed at him. The staff caught the pipe instead just as Robin landed professionally on it in a crouch, and swung his own staff directly at Slade's head just as boiling hot steam erupted from the puncture and blinded his one good eye. He felt the blow shove him back, but ducked blindly to move under Robin and behind him, opening his eye as the steam began to settle.

Robin looked for Slade straight ahead in caution and jumped just at the right moment as Slade brought his hand down in a karate chop to break his Bo-staff. It snapped as Robin flipped backward way up high and landed on the bend of the broken pipe.

Damn, he moved fast for a kid.

Slade caught hold of a nearby gear and held on until he caught the camshaft that rocked back and further in front of Robin. He landed just as Robin began to back away and stayed a few seconds to watch the shock on Robin's face at the trick. He grabbed hold on the camshaft again and held on until he landed on another platform, watching as Robin searched for him ins bafflement.

Slade leapt down toward him and body checked him in his broadside, knocking him down onto a lower horizontal gear that was stationary for the time being. He was dazed again and struggled to lift his head, but somehow Robin knew to move aside just as Slade came down toward him with a bone-break punch.

Now that the pressure was on, Robin was showing true skill. He was getting harder to hit.

And he started to hit back too.

Once Slade stood and cracked his knuckles, Robin's eyes narrowed with hatred and he got smart. He made it look as though he would use a side kick, but changed it into a back kick tat sent Slade staggering backwards. A second unexpected back kick sent him falling back onto the main level beside his monitors, cracking the left side of his mask.

_He cracked it._

"You're going to wish you hadn't done that…" He growled as Robin jumped down to face him and stepped forward to frown down at Slade.

"I only wish I'd done it sooner." Robin scowled and tore the S emblem from his chest, tossing it down in front of Slade.

Robin was not his own person anymore. He was the property of Slade, and no matter what he did—_he wasn't going to back out of being his apprentice._ Slade would let him go when his body was cold and his heart couldn't beat anymore.

Enough was enough. He'd teach Robin for being so damn defiant…

He voiced a low growl before he charged at Robin, forcing the unready apprentice to go on the defensive side as Slade attacked with a few simple—but painful—moves. Robin didn't want to give up his winning streak just yet and attempted another one of his tricky back kick—but Slade caught his leg, pulled him up and flipped him over so that he landed on his back, smiling behind his mask as Robin grunted in pain from suddenly being winded.

Robin struggled to stand and Slade began his lecturing again, drilling into Robin's mind that he belonged to Slade now.

"I have much to teach you, but the first thing you need to learn is _gratitude_."

Robin wiped a small trickle of blood from the corner of his lips and eyed the monitors showing the probes in his friend's bodies. There was great worry in his expression before it transformed into hate, and Robin attacked Slade with a punch.

_No, Robin. You're going to listen._

He grabbed the rebellious boy's arm and twisted it backward as he pulled it back behind his shoulder and slammed his upper body backwards to the ground. There was a popping sound that could have been the dislocating of Robin's arm as Slade released him and watch as Robin rolled onto his knees while holding onto the injured arm, biting back a yelp of pain..

"I made you my apprentice." He began. He could have chosen someone from Hive, he could have chosen someone from his old team, he could have chosen someone from anywhere in the world—but he didn't! He chose Robin because Robin could handle it, because Robin could stop just about anything in his way. And he deserved it for working so hard to be the best he could be—but why didn't he want it! He could do so much as destroy the world if he would only give into Slade.

But he didn't.

Foolish…

Slade continued and knelt beside Robin. "All my knowledge, all my power—_all for you_!" He grabbed a fistful of Robin's hair and pressed his forehead to the ground. "But the only thing you care about is your _worthless little friends_!"

Then he released his hair and stood listening as Robin stood up behind him.

He was going to make this really clear for Robin.

"If the Titans are so distracting, maybe I should just get rid of them…"

He looked at his wrist and brought it up to press the button—

"Don't…" Robin said weakly, steeling himself to submit himself to Slade's hell. "I'll…do whatever you say…"

That's all he needed to hear.

"Good boy…." He turned around to face the sullen apprentice and stared down at the weak that clay he could continue to mold. "And, from now on, I'd like you to call me Master."

The attack that came for him had been just as unexpected as when Robin suddenly showed up a short while again and tried to slug him. He was knocked aside by a set of starbolts that came from alien girl at the entrance to the main room. With her were the rest of the Teen Titans.

Blast them.

"Leave. Him. ALONE!" Starfire shrieked, hands still glowing from her starbolts.

Slade wasn't going to put up with this.

Standing, he looked to his apprentice and gave the next order. "Robin—attack!"

But Robin was still on the defiant side.

"Get out of here! Go! You don't know what those beams did to—"

"Dude."

"We know—"

"—and we don't care."

"We are you're friends, Robin." The girl finished for the group. "We are not leaving without you."

How they found out, he had no idea. But it didn't matter. They still couldn't stop him.

"How very touching." He mocked as he watched them tense visibly. He put his finger above the button and saw Robin turn to stare at him in horror. "But Robin doesn't need any friends."

He pressed down on the button and watched as his probes activated in their bodies. Turning orange-red they fell to the floor in agony as Robin stared at them in terror, fearing for their lives. Then his shoulders fell as he realized what Slade was going to make him do.

"This is the price for your disobedience, Robin. Now do as I command—ATTACK!"

The alien lifted her head at the sound of his command and stared at Robin with tears in her eyes. The sight was heart-breaking for Robin and Slade noticed the strength it gave his apprentice in that instant.

"No."

One word said it all.

"Robin!" Slade hollered as Robin dashed toward the gun that shot the probes and transmitted the commands from the controller to the probes. He planted his foot on the rig as he reached it and grabbed it with both hands, suddenly consumed by the red glow of the gun. Another screen popped up on Slade's monitors—this one showing the probes attaching to Robin's red blood cells.

The Boy Wonder was shot back quite a few feet and landed as his body smoked. But somehow Robin stood and hauled over toward Slade, falling to his knees from the strain.

This was getting to be too much.

"New deal, Slade." Robin groaned with difficulty. "If I lose my friends, you lose your apprentice. And I _know_ how you hate to lose…"

_Very smart move Robin. Getting to know your enemy's weakness and then exploiting it to strengthen your attack._

_So maybe you did learn something after all._

But there was that word…weak…He hated it and he would never get out the frustration it caused him.

He had no mind to remember his first failure in a number of years. He gave into Robin's deal because either way he went he lost. Though he hated Robin, the boy was still his number one choice as an apprentice and a successor—but perhaps another day he would find a way to snag him in an inescapable trap and bend him to Slade's will. But until then, someone else would have to substitute in his absence until that day.

They bet him—plain and simple—and he set and explosion to go off in the building to give him time to flee. Then he ran to his office and took what he could of his latest invention but had to leave much behind as he fled from the collapsing building. They escaped too, but Slade left Robin with something to haunt his mind until the day he could reclaim him came.

_Another day, Robin…another day…_

-A-

THIS IS **NOT** THE ENDING! I repeat—as much as I hate Terra, _this is not the ending._ You get to see every TT episode Slade is in. But I am adding an episode as my next chapter. It does not have the Teen Titans but you get to meet Red-X before he's Red-X…but not exactly. It sort of leads things up to Red-X finding about the Teen Titans and how Slade gets to find Terra in the first place. But Terra isn't in it…he finds a friend who will find her—OH—JUST READ THE CHAPTER! You mainly get to see him in his contract-killer mode and that's why I'm giving you a head's up on the warning—

**WARNING: **For those of you who just lied about your age to read higher-rated stories—I'm giving you a fair warning to skip the next chapter. It contains blood, a lot of action (which really isn't too bad), and you get to see Slade torture someone in a way that may make you shiver. I can write dark, but I'm actually making the next chapter so dark because of Slade's real personality in the oldies comics and because I made a bet with my cousin Victor. _I want you readers to give me a dark rating in your review (if you review the next chapter) from the numbers one to ten (one being Barney boring, and ten as the "OH MY GOD—I CAN'T WATCH!" spooked-out spas attack)._ I had people tell me I'm pretty talented with dark, so tell me if they're right in saying so.

Besides that—I'm going to start on the next chapter. Not to mention I have another chapter to write for Not Again…I just love that one…

_Bowing low,_

_Alexnandru Van Gordon_


	7. Chapter seven: Never get a woman angry

Slade's Tale

Alexnandru Van Gordon

I'm warning you again—any minors will have to turn back now. I can only think of one really gory part at the moment, but I don't want to get in trouble, so let's give this chapter an **M** rating and call it a night. If you don't want to see why the cartoon animators called Slade, Deathstroke the Terminator—here's why. If you don't want to, just skip to the next chapter which will be back to its mildly violent, but still insane, self.

**And for those of you who do skip this chapter**: _Just zip down to the very end of this web-page and I'll give you a quick summary of what happened in this chapter. That way you'll know who is who and what Slade discovered._

Anyone missing…no, you're all accounted for—so…shall we?...

DISCALIMER: I hold no claim

CHAPTER SEVEN: Ten is the number of the day

Failure…failure…failure…_failure_…How he hated that word. And to add insult to injury, his failure was due to a group of children he didn't take as seriously as he should have. Robin…one day he would return and make him pay for disobeying his master, but that could wait. Slade needed to get away for a while and think things through before he tried anything.

That's why he left in the night to Gotham City.

Sure, Batman was there, but as long as he kept quiet and didn't make himself stand out, he could avoid running into the caped crusader. But there was one thing that made him smile.

_Wayne_ was going to get the recorded tape of Robin breaking into his business building in Jump City. That wasn't going to look too good on Boy Wonder's part and that meant he'd be busy trying to explain things without getting demoted back to sidekick in Gotham. Wouldn't that be a nice little piece of revenge for Slade to savor.

After setting himself up in an abandoned factory just on the outskirts of the city, Slade went out for some fresh air…getting to know his surroundings just in case Batman ever did find out he was back in town. He stood on the roof of one of the tallest buildings in Gotham and stared at the glowing city. It was peaceful for once and that meant all the big baddies of Gotham were locked up momentarily. Wonder how long that would last…

About…five seconds.

The gunshot broke through the quiet hum of the busy city as the bullet embedded itself in the concrete of the roof just next to Slade's left foot. He looked up and stared straight ahead at the nearby building, taking a step back as another bullet just missed his other foot.

Someone was either trying to get his attention, or they needed to work just a tad bit harder before they could call themselves a sniper shooter. Not bad aim…but that all depended on how close he was too his target—which, Slade just remembered, was him.

An assault of gunfire rained down on him as he ran toward the edge of the roof—and jumped. It was just like when Robin chased after his decoy, but he really could do such a jump and landed in a crouch on the opposite roof. Then he saw him, a man lying down further down on the roof, hidden in the shadows of the fire escape. Gun propped up, the man didn't have time to turn and aim at Slade, all he could do was scramble to his feet, shout a curse, and start running as Slade came after him.

As fast as the man was, Slade was—by far—faster and caught up to the man in no time at all as he neared the end of the roof, reaching back for the string of the parachute strapped to his back.

One—who the hell was this guy?

Two—did he have a death wish or was he just stupid to shoot at Slade?

Slade caught him by the arm he reached for the string with and pulled him back painfully so that he landed on his back at Slade's feet. The guy grunted and rolled aside as Slade' foot came down for his chest, slipping off the parachute pack and chucking it at his pursuer.

It was heavier than it should have been and that obviously meant it wasn't really a parachute. It was just a little something to get Slade to chase after him.

_Tick. Tick. Tick._

It just kept getting better and better.

"You fool!" Slade roared at the man as he just stood and watched Slade chuck the bomb off roof. It just made it halfway down toward the street below before it erupted into a minor explosion, causing no real damage at all.

Wasn't this just great. If someone didn't call to report the gunshots, the Dark Knight was sure to be attracted by the explosion downtown in the middle of the night. This was one of those days that Slade could just scream and strangle someone…speaking of which…

He turned on the man sharply and grabbed him around the throat. Squeezing painfully, he held the man over the edge of the building with one arm and watched as he struggled to breath—and keep from falling at the exact same time. This kid had some nerve coming around and playing such a stunt on him…

_A kid_?

Slade reached with his other hand and tore the black mask from the man's head—and sure enough, it was a kid no older than the meddling Teen Titans back in Jump City. What was it with children and going haywire on the city? Was it the latest fad or was it just some sort of mutation in the next generation? If it wasn't drugs and skateboarding off the roof of your house, it was running around town every day and night in search of a good fight—did they want to die, or was it just in their nature…

"You've got some nerve, punk." Slade said as he watched the blond haired kid choke for air. "Now, you've got ten seconds to decide whether you want me to break your neck or just drop you now—you're choice."

The kid said nothing and continued to struggle for air. He wasn't even looking Slade in the eye or trying to hit him in anyway. Perhaps he was accepting the fact that he wasn't going to live to see tomorrow…or…

Slade tossed the kid back onto the roof and watched as he came crashing down to the concrete, sliding to a halt on his right side as he coughed louder. This was the usual way someone caught his attention when they wanted to hire him. It had been a while so it was no wonder why he forgot he was still labeled as a contract-killer in everyone's book, but a kid? Must have gone to HIVE, or else he wouldn't have known that Slade was still alive and kicking despite his tendency to go unnoticed to the world for months on end.

Slade walked up to the boy as he sat up and knelt beside him, grabbing him by the front of his shirt and giving him a good shake before speaking.

"Who sent you? Or do you have a death wish?"

The boy rubbed the back of his head and frowned. "If I wanted to be dead I could have jumped off this building years ago."

Slade gave him another shake. "You didn't answer my question of who sent you."

"Why should I tell you?"

Slade released the front of his shirt and back slapped him so hard his shoulders turned with his head as the neck threatened to break. The kid swore under his breath and didn't do anything as Slade grabbed him by the front of his black shirt again. If this kid wasn't going to tell him soon, he was just going to chuck him off the side of the building like he had the bomb. He had to get going before the Dark Knight showed up.

"You know the Lovells?" The kid said, rubbing the back of his neck now as it cracked. "I'm one of them, and my older sister wants to hire you. You heard of us?"

Slade pushed the kid back and stood, kicking him hard in the side before allowing the boy to stand. If he would have just said that in the first place, it would have spared him all the pain.

"I heard you guys steal technology and sell it to the highest bidder." Slade said and turned his back to the boy. He stared out across the city at the lights of the buildings…such a lovely sight… "What—is there something not even you're men can steal?"

"Not quite." He replied and cracked his sore neck again. "I'd tell you more, but that all depends on whether you're not you're interested in making ten million dollars."

Slade thought about it for a while. It had been quite some time since he went out and had a little good old assassin fun. Also, ten million could buy him more supplies to rebuild his army of robots that were destroyed by the Teen Titans. This could be something of a vacation from his usual major villain job.

"Where is she?"

-break-

It was the usual room, but the girl wasn't. He was led to one of the buildings nearby the one _stupid_ decided to bring the bomb. He had to give the kid credit though—that was one hell of a stunt back there. The bomb was timed, not set off by controller or remote. He had that thing ticking on his back for how long and he still mustered the guts to tee Slade off.

What a mess that would have been if he had taken too long with his aim.

It was a long dark room that was occupied with a long table and high backed chairs aligning it. At the end was the woman, no older than sixteen or seventeen, standing next to her chair. Slade didn't sit, but, instead, stood comfortably with his hands behind his back as the young lady made her way down toward his end the moment he entered the room. One thing he noticed right away was the limp in her right leg. She walked with a cane that she was forced to rely on heavily as she halted near his end and sat in one of the chairs to his left.

She was tall with long black hair and dull grey eyes. She was pretty, but she didn't look like she had had any sleep for a while. The area around her eyes was dark and shadowed while the rest of his skin was pale, and then there was the limp. She appeared to be in a great deal of pain but passed it aside as she got down to business.

"Took me a while to find you, but I'm glad you came." She said, her voice still holding the secret strength that kept her going. "I take it you're interested in my offer."

"Maybe." He said. "It depends on the job. I heard the Lovells do well enough on their own."

"In thieving." She said with a smile. "But this is different."

She wore a man's suit tailored to fit her thin figure, and reached to one of her pockets, taking out a picture that she leaned forward and handed to Slade. It was of a man with hair as black as the girl's and eyes as blue as the boy's, standing there with two partners in a business like style.

"That's my father, Mr. Lovell." She said and he looked to her once before returning his gaze to the picture. "Two weeks ago he was kidnapped."

Slade tossed the picture back to her and she caught it. "I'm sorry, Miss Lovell, but I'm not in the mood for a search and rescue mission."

She laughed and he humored her by waiting for an explanation before he left. "I don't see how you can save someone who's dead."

Okay…that made things interesting.

"Then what exactly do you want?"

"What everybody in this damn world wants—_revenge_." She sighed and rubbed her temples. "He was kidnapped by an old enemy who goes by the name of Eric Goring. He was tortured, killed, and I have no idea what Goring did with the body. All I know is that I got my father's fingers in the mail one day and a bullet in the knee the next."

"You want me to kill him."

She smiled again and Slade could tell he had it down. "You will get ten million dollars if you kill him, but I have a special request."

He grinned behind his mask. With someone with resources like the Lovell family, he could get quite a few things done…

"It'll cost you a favor." He said and she continued to smile.

She reached back into her pocket and pulled out a cigar cutter. It was a rectangular piece of metal with a hole the size of a finger on it that you placed the cigar end in. Press down on one end and a blade cut the cigar.

"Cut off his fingers with this before or after he dies as proof." She stated simply, tossing it over to him. "Bring them back to me and that is when you will get the second half of your ten million."

She reached under the table then and pulled a briefcase onto the table, spinning it around to face Slade as she opened it. Sure enough, inside was about five million dollars.

"Feel up for the job?" She asked.

"When do you want it done?"

She hummed to herself in thought, obviously worried. "Tomorrow night at nine fifteen."

An eyebrow rose at the timing as he crossed his arms slowly. "Isn't revenge best served cold? Won't he be expecting something."

"Are you kidding me?" She laughed weakly and rubbed her temples again. "That jerk stole some disk a while back and he's dropping into the city just tonight to sell it—but there's bound to be a couple of good thieves there. After he gets it off his hands he's taking a private jet all the way to Jump City." She paused and frowned. "And I don't know about you, but I really don't want to run into those teen heroes. Batman is enough of a pain on his own, even with his sidekick fighting in another city."

She had no idea how right she was. Though he would one day get his revenge, he didn't plan on bumping into them any time soon. This was more of a vacation from his mastermind ways, to just go and do a job for someone and prosper from it. He was getting paid ten million by this woman and that would help a lot…

"Give me the details." He ordered and she continued to smile.

"Nine fifteen at the dock—Pier thirty nine. He'll be taking a helicopter to the airport, and you can find the copter on the roof of the warehouse at the Pier. That's also where's he's holding the auction, which will give you an hour or so to get ready before he decides to run."

"Anything else I should know about him?" Slade asked, taking a mental note of everything she just said.

"He's not stupid—so he's hired men of his own to watch the disk. He's not bad himself when it comes to a fight, but he's an aging man and his back isn't doing too good. He won't be expecting an attack on himself unless he ticked someone else off I don't know about yet."

That disk…He could bet she was going to send someone to steal it too, but not before he copied the information on it. He didn't know what was on the disk, but whatever it was it had to be something good to be heavily guarded. It might be useless, or it could be worth something—he wouldn't know until tomorrow night.

"And by the way…" Miss Lovell said just as Slade turned to leave. He waited and listened, interested in hearing what someone with her unique requests had to say. "Could I ask you to do one last thing?"

He hesitated, but it was worth it. Glancing over his shoulder slightly to show her he was listening, he nodded. "But you would owe me another favor."

"You know my brother—the one who came after you tonight?"

Another nod.

"He graduated from HIVE last year and isn't bad at his job, but I have feeling something's going to happen to him tomorrow night when he goes to steal the disk…"

So the plot thickens. Not only was he on a murder job, but he was _baby-sitting_ too.

"I'm not fond of children, Miss Lovell." He growled, but then he paused. "But I'll keep an eye out for him. Just tell him not to do any more kamikaze tricks like the ones last night because I'm not going to waste my time collecting his body parts."

Hence, the bomb stunt.

-break-

The timing had never been better. There he was—a tall aging man with a straight back and stiff shoulders. Looked like he could have been a General with that horrid look on his face like he'd bit your nose off if you weren't obedient, but Slade had seen much worse. His short black hair was turning white at the back of his neck and his blue eyes were looking a little pale. Failing sight? Maybe.

It was as dark as hell outside, the only light coming from the lampposts scattered along the docks. Slade stood in the abandoned warehouse right next to the one belonging to Pier thirty-nine, staring out the windows with some binoculars at the man as he and his gunmen stepped off the small boat they took to get here. Goring adjusted his suit coat and walked along the pier with a suitcase in hand, staring around for any signs of watchers. Looked like a real mean guy…

Maybe this would be fun.

Slade lowered his binoculars and shook his head as he leaned against the wall. There were about twenty men with Goring, three of them Slade recognized. They were assassins like himself, but only one of them was a toughie like Slade—a real nose-biter like the looks of Goring. He had a nasty attitude and wasn't very clean with his work, not caring much if the cops came anywhere near catching him or not, and he went by the nickname of GL Skull.

Someone should have done the world a favor and put a bullet in his back already. Perhaps Slade could do that for a little extra fun…

Nothing left to do now, but wait. Slade couldn't touch the guy until he had his hands off the disk so that the kid (who he earlier learned was Matthew) could steal it. Besides, he already saw someone else prowling around on the roof of the other warehouse. The way she walked, it looked a heck of a lot like Catwoman.

The Bat was going to have a hay day with this gang once he found out what was going down at Pier thirty nine. No doubt he'd bash the party—and that was why time was of the essence. Slade wanted to get in and out as soon as possible, because he was sure Batman would give Robin word about Slade's whereabouts if he was spotted. He wasn't afraid of the kid—

He just wanted him to lose a couple nights of sleep over nightmares. He knew how nuts it drove the kid when he was left in the dark, so why not make him stir for not accepting the offer of a lifetime.

Enough of the Teen Titans…

The man made it inside the warehouse, followed closely by a number of men. Three of them stayed outside, two of them starting to circle the outside the building as one stood guard by the main entrance. It was the brute mercenary—GL Skull.

Heh—this would be fun.

-break-

No one saw him—it was actually pretty comical. The moment one of the men passed around the building, Slade ran up to the fire escape ladder and scrambled up onto the roof, where he paused to listen. Walking over to a skylight, he looked down through the glass at Goring and his men. He was sitting in a chair beside a set up table, four other chairs lining the other side for those clients who got his invitation and were coming to buy it rather than to _steal_ it. His boys were equipped with guns, most of them hidden, but one guy had a machine gun beside him, not a smart thing to have around unless you wanted to scare the customers off. Oh well, Goring knew there was going to be a couple people around to steal the disk. He knew blood was going to be shed that night.

But did he know his own life was going to end…Not likely.

"Hey!"

Slade turned his head to the left and saw another one of Goring's men standing near the edge of the roof. The idiot didn't have a gun, but seemed to think the small dagger he had in his hands would do the trick.

Goring didn't hire the right men.

"Here to steal it, aren't you?" The man said as they began to circle one another, slowly getting closer. "Not anybody is gonna lay on it."

"I'm not here for the disk." Slade said plainly.

"Yeah right. You—"

Slade silenced the man with one quick movement and caught him by the front of his suit coat. Pulling him forward, Slade thrust his fist into the guy's face and released him then to watch him stumbled back toward the ledge of the roof. Waving his arms to regain his balance, the man almost stopped himself from falling, but he couldn't even see from the blood splattered over his face. With a broken nose and a final swear, the man fell backward over the edge of the roof near the entrance Goring took.

"The hell?" Slade heard GL shout after the loud thud, and he sighed.

There goes the element of surprise.

Crossing his arms, Slade walked over to the ledge and stared down at the mess below. The man's body lay sprawled at an odd angle on the ground only a foot in front of GL who probably had the heck spooked out of him. Taking one of his grenades into his hand, Slade waited until GL looked up at him until he pulled off the pin and tossed it down.

GL swore and raced forward as Slade backed far away from the edge. A loud explosion erupted from the small grenade and the front of the warehouse was caught on fire, blown apart by the impact. Not much of it stayed on fire, mind you, but it sure as heck caught Goring's attention and that of his men.

Slade chuckled to himself as half the men raced to the burning wood, one of them carrying a fire extinguisher as three escorted Goring toward the other side of the building. Slade just waited, still watching through the glass as one of the looked up at the skylight and saw Slade. He, however remained quiet, a blond haired kid with a hat on. No one bothered to look him in the eyes and that is why when he suddenly came up behind the other two men, neither of them noticed he was attacking until one was flat on his back on the ground and the other was pulling out a gun.

Slade took out his own gun, took aim, and shot just as the man was about to blow Matthew's head off. Slade's bullet went straight through his hand and caused him to drop the gun as Matthew planted a powerful sidekick to his head.

By this time, others had noticed the fight and turned to help—but two more seemed to be on Matthew's team. It was obvious Miss Lovell wasn't going to send her brother in alone and she was lucky she beat the crowd to steal the disk. There was a gun war going on downstairs and the briefcase was dropped. One of Goring's men picked it up and urged his boss on who left for the stairs to the roof., while another boy—one who had just been hit by Matthew, tried to take the briefcase from him. Evidently, more than one thief team was present now, and Slade couldn't pass up the fact that the new boy looked a lot like Robin…

Now for Slade's part.

In the center of the roof was a landing pad where the helicopter should be when it came. It was just nine fifteen so it was no wonder it wasn't ready yet, and that made it all the more easier for Slade.

He casually walked over to the stairwell door leading down into the building and waited in the shadows beside it for the man to come. He came alright, muttering in dome foreign language as he adjusted his coat suit.

Slade came out with an axe kick and nearly succeeded. True to his previous thoughts, Goring was a tough man and obviously knew how to fight without a gun.

"Another thief?" Goring asked as he slipped off his coat and threw it aside. "As you can see I don't have the disk."

"I'm not here for the disk." Slade said and attacked again with three punches. The first two were blocked very nicely by Goring, but the third made it past his guard and connected with his nose. This sent him reeling back with a hand over his face, blood seeping out between the fingers.

"Bastard…" Goring muttered and lowered his hand to reveal a broken nose. He was stronger than what most people took him for. "If not the disk, then what?"

"You'll find out soon enough." Slade murmured and came again, this time with a couple of kicks. Again they were professionally blocked until the last, which caught Goring in the ribs. He stumbled aside in pain, apparently getting too old for this

Goring then attacked with a few of his own punches and Slade was mildly surprised at how good he was at it. There was another thing he had to admit though—and that was that Robin fought better. Despite working with the big league, Slade had to admit that Robin was an ace fighter and that left a bitter taste in his mouth when he remembered hw he lost something so…unique.

He took his fury out on the man and ducked under a punch, coming up with an upper-cut of his own. This sent the man back far, and Slade decided to finish their small meeting with a quick hit to the head.

It knocked the man unconscious.

Slade stared down at the man, but his thoughts were elsewhere. That was the problem with defeat—it lingered like an awful flavor in your mouth, staying with you until you _corrected your mistake_. Quite frankly, he didn't know how to fix this mistake. Take Robin again? Defeat him? Find someone else?...He was confused and furious. Made him want to make someone scream.

Then he noticed Goring again and he smiled behind his mask.

-break-

Goring's men were idiots. None of them followed Goring and none of them knew where the heck he was. Slade knew. He carried the man into a storage room at the far back of the warehouse he hid in. It was just about soundproof where he couldn't heat a man screaming if he was yelling in a microphone. It was small and dark, save for the small light hanging above, and there was no furniture in the room besides the chair that Slade tied him to. There were armrests on the chair and that was to hold Goring's hands out for when he woke.

And woke he did.

"Damn that hurt…" Goring muttered as he shook his head and regained his vision. Slade was leaning against the wall in front of him, flipping the cigar cutter in his hand over and over again. His one eye remained on Goring as the man finally realized he was tied down, a frown crossing his face as he stared at Slade.

Then his eyes fell on the item in Slade's hand.

"You still didn't tell me what you want." Goring said with distaste, somewhat curious as to what Slade was going to do. "And who the hell are you?"

Slade smiled behind his mask and straightened, bowing briefly to mock the man. "Deathstroke the Terminator, at your service."

Goring's frown grew. "I know about you—some damn assassin you are. So, who did I upset?"

"I think you know that." Slade watched as the man began to worry. "No? Does the name _Lovell_ ring a bell?"

Goring froze and stiffened. "I killed him a couple of weeks ago."

"That's not who I'm talking about." Slade answered, kneeling before him as he stopped flipping the cigar cutter in his hand. "I'm talking about his daughter."

"The one who I shot in the knee?" He laughed. "That little miss? What a joke. That woman doesn't have the guts to have someone murdered—just a scared little girl who misses her father."

"_Really_?" Slade hissed, and somehow he felt this upset him. He knew that Miss Lovell was a respectable woman, even though she was pretty young, and that she wasn't just some scared little girl who missed her father. She missed her father—but far less than she wanted revenge, and anyone who was willing to draw blood for a reason they believed in dearly was all right in Slade's eyes. The hate and vengeance in her eyes was incredible, and Slade could hardly wait to see the look on her face when his job was finished.

"I'm going to give you a piece of advice." Slade said as he grabbed Goring's left hand and forced him to straighten his second last finger. He slid the finger into the hole on the cigar cutter until it rested right up to where the digit connected to the hand. "Don't ever get a woman angry because woman are very emotional, and they _hate_ the longest…"

_Cut._

Goring bit back a scream and Slade let the digit drop to the floor as blood soaked onto his gloves and through to his hands. Goring tried to keep the rest of his hand in a fist, but Slade straightened the middle finger and fit the cigar cutter around it the same as the last.

Slade smiled. "…they _hate_ the hardest…"

_Cut_.

Goring bit back another scream, but this time his groan was louder and he shut his eyes tight as more blood came and the second finger fell to the ground. He would be going into shock soon and that meant the pain would slowly numb out. That was why Slade had to do this part quickly.

Forcing Goring to straighten his little finger, Slade had to hold his hand tighter to keep it in place. But then he laughed as Goring's breaths were short and panicky.

"Relax." Slade said softly, mocking the man as he laughed. "I still have eight more points…"

-break-

Slade sat at the end of the table, tapping the cigar on the table each second as he waited near the door. It was the same room he met Miss Lovell in and he had been there for an hour. She was late…

He hated it when people were late.

The door banged opened on Q and Miss Lovell came in with crutches instead of her cane, shooing away two men who tried to pull her out of the room. "I'll leave when I'm finished." She snapped at them and one man rolled his eyes with a sigh as they both left, closing the door behind them. But not before one handed her a briefcase. Apparently, she wasn't supposed to be home.

"Where were you?" Slade asked calmly, not as upset as he had been when he was waiting. "You look…troubled."

"Troubled?" She sighed, taking a seat across from him with much difficultly, cringing once in pain. "My aunt has to be the nosiest person alive and didn't tell me she booked an operation for my knee until I was dragged out of here to the hospital yesterday. Apparently you're not supposed to let bullet wounds heal on their own."

He laughed. "So I take it they did something to your knee."

"They want to replace it!" She exclaimed, frowning at the door. "Or, at least they keep trying to. I had to stay there overnight and they took away my cane when I whacked someone with it. Damn Goring shattered my knee cap…Speaking of which." Her eyes brightened and she stared at Slade. "Do you have anything for me?"

Slade reached under the table and pulled up a small black box, sliding it down the table to her. She lifted the lid and she smiled as stared inside. She looked at the closer and her smile grew. "How lovely—you cut them off while he was still alive, too, How wonderful of you. And…" She put the briefcase on the table and he took it, opening the lid and looking inside. Sure enough, there was the rest of his money and…

Slade picked up the CD case and stared at her through his mask. "What's this?"

Her smile lightened into a smirk. "A copy of the disk Matthew eventually stole last night. It's some sort of recipe for a hallucigenic…_dust_, what have you. It could come in handy if you ever figure out how to use it, but it's going to take me a while."

"A gift?" He asked. "Or is there something else you want me to do?"

She laughed. "Unless I need you in the future—no. I just gave that to you because I somehow knew it might strike your interest. After all, I wouldn't want you stealing from me."

"Which reminds me…" HE threw the CD back into the briefcase and closed it. "About that favor."

"I'm all ears."

:"Good." He crossed his arms. "I need you to find me someone with powers."

Miss Lovell paused. "As in—superhero powers?"

"Yes." He continued, watching the curious look grow on her face. "Someone I can manipulate—preferably someone young."

"Why, exactly?" She asked, still curious.

"I need someone young to get to know the Teen Titans so I can spy on them and get rid of them once and for all."

She smiled and it clicked in her head. "Because the Teen Titans only accept Teens—I see…" She paused and looked down at the table in thought. "I think I can herd someone in your direction, but you need to do the talking. She's a girl…goes by the name of Terra, I think."

Terra?...he hadn't heard of her before.

"She had rock powers of the sort." Lovell explained vaguely. "She's been chased from a number of cities and towns due to _little accidents_, but word of her hasn't spread down here yet. She's a wanderer and that'll make it hard to track her, but she's a lonely soul with a bad past—the type of kid who needs someone to lead her by the hand, so to speak."

Slade grinned. She sounded exactly like the type of person he was looking for.

"Can you find her?"

Lovell raised an eyebrow and grinned. "Give me a week and I'll have her on her way to wherever you want to meet her. She won't know, of course, but that'll make all the more interesting."

"Indeed." Slade agreed and took the suitcase, standing and moving toward the door. He could hear shouting on the other side of the door which sounded like an angry older woman—Lovell's aunt no less. "Until we meet again, Miss Lovell, which I'm sure we will."

"It was a pleasure doing business with you Mr. Wilson."

He paused for just a moment and stared back at her with a little curiosity. "Usually when I'm hired, my clients only know me by my _other_ name. How do you know my real name?"

She laughed slightly in amusement, but left him with a straight answer. "You don't think I could have found you on my own. Wintergreen told me to tick you off and that would get your attention instantly—hence my brother's suicide attempt."

That was the word he was looking for. Suicide…that damn kid wanted to commit bloody suicide.

But Wintergreen…wherever he was, Slade just might need him again. Who know? It all depended on how hard the Titans were going to continue to be….

-A-

**SUMMARY:** Slade returned to Gotham for some low time and was found (and hired) by the Lovell family to kill a man named Eric Goring who had been a life long enemy to the family and killed the father. While watching Goring, Slade saw a boy who looked somewhat like Robin, fought well, and just happened to be a thief after a new disk Goring acquire who-knows-how (Red-X for those of you who don't know who I'm talking about). In completely his job and killing Goring, Slade received ten million dollars and a favor from the new head of the Lovell family—the sixteen-year-old daughter Miss Lovell (with a shattered right leg; walked with a cane). The task: find a new apprentice. Miss Lovell came up with a name, and the person she spoke of was a girl called _Terra_…

I know it sounds weird, but I had trouble thinking of how to introduce Terra while letting Slade still have some fun. I left death to the minimal…I think, and I hope you guys weren't too upset about the finger part. Victor suggested that and since he helped with getting this story started, I promised I would add it. Anyhow—give me a rating on the gory part of the story. That way I know if I should keep up with it for other stories or abandon it altogether.

Anyways…have a nice day and don't ever get a woman angry because woman…

Hold on—I still have ten more points!

_Waving goodbye,_

_Alexnandru Van Gordon_

PS: I know my cousin is weird, so just don't insult him about the finger part. I think he got the idea from a movie or something…


	8. Chapter eight: A newbie

Slade's Tale

Alexnandru Van Gordon

(_Still floating around upside down in a strange, dark, broken dimension._) Hello again, people. (_Sighs heavily_.) I honestly give up. I've been trying to avoid writing about Terra, but I can't if I want to get on with the story. Writing the story from Slade's POV means writing _everything_ from his POV, and that means to the best of my ability. And attached to that is this—I can't get out of here until I finish this story, so it can't be avoided. Oh well…I'm sure Terra isn't so bad once a person gets to know her…I suppose. Sheesh, swallow your pride, Alex, and get on with it! Pretend you like the idea of her in the show.

DISCLAIMER: Do I own any of this…Nope.

CHAPTER EIGHT: A newbie

He had fun—that much he had to admit and he got something out of it too. He had a new ally and money to fund his newest experiments. Not only that, but he had a new name to focus on and a new weapon…hallucinogenic dust…It made him wonder what he was going to do with that.

Maybe he'd infect Robin with some and make him see his parents' death over, and over, and over again until he lost his mind. Wouldn't that be exciting to watch?

Well, now was the time to focus on more important things and that thing just happened to have a name.

Tara Markov.

But she had the habit of spelling it with two 'r''s and an 'e' to look like Terra. She had a lot of history to her and not a scrap of it escaped Miss Lovell's eyes as she researched everything about the girl and sent the information to Slade. Turns out, she was the illegitimate daughter of the King of Markovia, sent away to America on her own to avoid a scandal. Because of her royal blood, she had the ability to control the earth (to a degree). This was accomplished through the help of a scientist who went by the name of Helga Jace who also assisted Terra's half brother, Brion, in obtaining his powers and becoming the hero named Geo-force. The half siblings lost contact with each other soon after that and Terra wandered around the country in search of purpose and a place to call her home. But her efforts were in vain, for those powers she possessed where out of her control. Towns, cities, countrysides—all suffered from earthquakes and trembles from her powers when they went haywire on her and she became an outcast to the entire world, chased away like a leper in the olden days.

Bad luck was fond of this girl.

True to her words, Lovell somehow herded Terra in Slade's direction. He had, despite his dispute with Robin of the Teen Titans, returned to Jump City and created a new hideout in the old mines that ran somewhat under the city. From there he monitored the place and watched with ever-growing hate as the Titans continued on with their lives as though Slade had made no lasting impression. Robin, however, still seemed to be haunted, a little jumpy when it came to battles and a hell of a lot more aggressive. Without a doubt, robin still wanted his revenge and so did Slade.

Maybe things would return to the way they should have been.

It was one Friday, late into the evening, that he received a call from Miss Lovell. He had no idea how she managed to discover his number (it wasn't as if it was in the phone book), but, then again, she was the new head of a family of thieves. She knew how to get what she wanted.

"Miss Lovell." Slade said as he turned on the screen. It didn't show her, but it revealed her locations and told him who was calling before the woman could introduce herself. "How nice it is to hear from you again. I assume you have something important to tell me?"

"_Indeed…?"_

"Just call me Slade for now, seeing that you already knew that."

"_Alright, Slade, I know you have the information I sent you, and here's the best part—she's on her way."_

"Terra…" He sighed, thinking about her. Her powers were extraordinary and they interested him the moment he read over what Miss Lovell gave him. "You make the right decisions, Miss Lovell. I think you got exactly what I was looking for."

"_Good, because she should be in Jump City tomorrow. She's probably taking the canyon route, so watch for her there."_

"Just tell me one thing—how did you get her to come here?"

Miss Lovell laughed on the other side of the line and Slade arched an eyebrow. _"I scared her, poor thing. I found her, sent some of my men over to her city, and set up a series of bombs in an old fault line that ran beneath it. Of course she thought it was herself and ran for the next city—Jump City. The little girl was crying, the silly goose. What fun you're going to have."_

"Fun…" He echoed, thinking to himself. As easy as it was to manipulate people and aggravated them, he didn't know how to act gentle with younger children—particularly girls. Judging by how Miss Lovell reacted to a family death, how was a little girl going to react to a mercenary coming after her. She'd kick him the moment she lay eyes on him, that's what she'd do…and probably scream and run away while she was at it. And now, looking at it from that perspective, he realized Miss Lovell gave him the harder part of the job.

"_Well, I hope you, Mr. Wilson, but I have important business to attend to tonight, and you know how pesky the caped crusader is. He'd have my head if I make a mistake."_

In business, Slade knew she meant her deal with stealing. Even with a broken leg she was busy with crime.

"And just one thing, Miss Lovell…I pray for your sake that this girl has something special about her. I also pray that nothing goes wrong with the plan."

"_As do I, Slade. I am well aware of what you are capable of doing with failures and I do not intend to join that list of unfortunates. I would dearly hate to see my name written right next to Eric Goring's…Goodnight."_

The line went dead and the annoying humming sound was abruptly halted by his computer. He had work to do, and he'd have to be up bright and early if he wanted to beat the Teen Titans to his goal…

-break-

He hid in the dark fissure of a large rock, staring at the small screen on his wrist. The sun was just rising and his commandoes were hidden all around the canyon, secretly chasing the girl as they recorded what they saw and sent the shots directly back to Slade. It was wonderful weather out, but many would beg to differ in the hot suffocating air.

She was tall and lanky, a slim kid with long blonde hair and blue eyes, hiking shoes and mountain climbing clothes. Wild eyed and a fast runner, she dashed down the canyon like there was no tomorrow toward the Jump City Bay which held the T-tower. It was evident she was on her way to greet the Titans…if not for the unjustly large black scorpion hot on her heels.

A little bit bigger than a bus, the scorpion scurried after the frightened girl as she tried to run away. Gaining on her, it raised its deadly stinger and thrust it toward its prey—only to have the girl fall and drop a small butterfly barrette from her hair. It punched it's stinger into the earth again as she tried to reach for the cliff, but common sense finally came to mind and she continued the mad dash toward the end of the canyon, huffing for air and seeming pale to the face.

Swerving, she nearly missed the sweep of the scorpion's claw, trying desperately to put a safe distance between her and that which wanted to eat her. Still running…she reached a dead-end and turned around slowly to meet her doom. As its shadow loomed over her she backed up against the rock wall, sheer terror in her eyes as she watched the beast lower its head toward her small figure.

This was the end and Slade was sourly disappointed. He expected better from her—he expected better from Miss Lovell. The young lady was sure to hear from him again, and he might just as well be the last person she sees before God grants her six feet of earth. She should have done a better search…

"_Titans, go!"_

There he was again…back in action even after their little meeting. Robin and his band of vigilantes would dispose of the threat and save that girl who shouldn't have been born in the first place. How pathetic she was…

But before anyone could move, the girl took him by surprise. The ground began to tremble and a commando's camera zoomed in on the teenaged girl. Her eyes were no longer a pale blue, but a glowing hot yellow and a cruel smiled played its way onto her face as her hair blew wildly around her face from a harsh breeze that was non-existent at the time.

The Titans were seen in the corner of Slade's screen, all bracing as the rock beneath them began to break away from the edge of the cliff. Stepping back, they watched as another slab of rock was torn from its place on the other side of the canyon and began to move inward to cave the space in. The girl—Terra—strained from the effort and her hands began to glow as well as she tried even harder to move the rock. The scorpion, too dumbfounded to know what to do, just stood their as the rock finally collapsed down on top of it and, with one last spasm of its tail and a high pitched scream before death, the creature was flattened to nothing…

Maybe Miss Lovell was going to live a longer life after all.

Dropping her hands to her sides and sighing with a grin, she pulled a few stray hairs out of her face and stared up out of the canyon at the speechless Titans.

The Titans…they beat him to her. They came and now they were going to ruin everything…

"_She was not in trouble…"_ The alien girl whispered in her surprise, turning her head to Cyborg.

"_She was leading it into a trap!"_

"_The question is…"_ Robin said, looking more serious than pleased to see the girl do what she just did. After all that had happened to him, he still hadn't learned his lesson. Worrying too much can lead you out to deep waters…Such as worrying over finding your archnemises…

"_Who is she?" _The green one added, finishing off his fearless leader's sentence.

"Don't get too attached, my young friend." Slade said secretly to the young transformer. The girl wasn't going to be with them long if Slade had anything to do with it. "I saw her first…"

Still grinning, the girl dusted off her hands and, with a quick gesture, a large chunk of the rock she crashed came soaring past her. Jumping atop of it, she stood tall and powerful as it raised her up to the Titans before she finally stepped down to meet them.

"_What? Haven't you guys ever seen a superhero before?"_

The Titans, of course, were still a cautious bunch after Robin's kidnapping and apprenticeship to Slade, and did not move in the first couple of seconds before Robin stepped forward and extended his hand.

_Always first to check for danger, aren't you? You could have had no worries if you stayed by my side, boy…_

"_I'm Robin." _He said plainly, sounding powerful and friendly at the exact same time…Must have taken him weeks to perfect that tone of voice. _"We're the—"_

"_TEEN TITANS!"_ She finished for him, rolling her hand into a fist and punching his own in a groovy fashion. She was apparently thrilled at meeting the legendary teen heroes. _"Rock on! It's **so** cool to meet you guys! I'm Terra, and you're…"_ Her eyes fell on the others as she listed their names in order. _"Cyborg, Raven,…Starfire, and…"_

"_Boy Beast! Uh…I mean, Bass Boot! No!"_

Slade laughed and allowed for it to echo. The child had a crush on a girl—how cute…and how fit for the young teens who were stuck between youth and the point of growing up. It was only too bad the youngest kid had to fall held over heels in love with Slade's newest tool.

Yelping in his premature, high-pitched voice, the changeling transformed into a turtle and hid in his shell, bringing forth a laugh from the laid-back girl.

"_Dude! He's hilarious!"_

"_Hilarious…?"_ The boy popped his head out of his shell. _"Me? Really?"_

No. But she seemed to have an odd taste in friends.

As the green one fainted, the alien girl stepped forward and leaned her face so close to Terra's, the human began to lean back. It was as though Starfire was inspecting her, searching for all the answer which she assumed to be written on the face. Then, like one long word, she started a run off of questions—

"_Curiousity abounds. Please…Where-do-you-come-from—how-did-you-get-here—what-is-you-favorite-colour—do-you-wish-to-be-my-friend?"_

Even robin looked a little surprised.

"_Uhhh…Earth, walked, red, and…sure."_

Starfire squealed and took Terra into one of her monstrous hugs. _"Hello, new friend!"_

"_How's…it…going… (Choke!)."_

Oh please—friends? If Robin would have been smart he would have listened to what Slade said, and now he had another kid to worry about. How many times did he have to say it—there are no such things as friends! They stick with you until you've out-lived your use and then they abandon you in a heart beat. There is no one in the world you can trust besides yourself.

But kids will be kids and so let them think what they like. In the end they will all see things differently…

They talked a short while more before bringing upon the question of her home. Quite frankly, she didn't have one—and that softened the hearts of Beast Boy, Starfire and Cyborg as Robin and Raven stared in mute observation. They didn't say anything, wanting to watch Terra in their wise ways. Those two always were the more cautious.

"_You will stay with us!"_

"_Really, I-I'm…"_

"_Come on, we got plenty of room."_

"_Yeah! And I can make you laugh some more. I'm hilarious, remember?"_

"_Well…I guess I cold stay for one night…"_

Now things were going to get difficult. How was Slade supposed to talk to Terra if she was staying in Jump City's top security building? Slade hated to admit it, but it would be quite the task to get a message in and out without being noticed. Cyborg was practically the right arm of the building, knowing whenever something went wrong. Slade could find a way in, but that would take some time…

"_Oh glorious!"_

"_Yes!"_

"_Boo-yah!"_

The three free-styled teens were in a happy frenzy as they dragged her back, all the while Robin and Raven lingering where they were. Robin knelt on the ground and picked up some of the dust, as though picking up a scent he didn't like…something that he recognized through unhappy memories.

"_Everything okay?"_

He dropped the sand and sighed, looking around on the ground with a small frown. _"I'm not sure…Something just doesn't feel right…"_

Standing, he and Raven moved to follow the others from a safe distance behind, talking quietly among themselves about something not even Slade could hear. The place they once stood crumbled away and fell into the canyon, destroying whatever Robin had found bothered him.

He was pretty good, and at least now he was more cautious. Maybe his imprisonment with Slade taught him something after all.

Maybe it would again, if the chance ever arouse that Slade could take him.

-break-

Even though he could not yet plant cameras on the inside of the tower, he could place as many as he wanted to on the outside. The Titans' island might have been small, but even, though done carefully, one of Slade's commandos could sneak there and hide a small camera. This Slade kept on for most of the day, waiting patiently for something to come up so that he could monitor Terra. Her profile was nice, but he wanted to see how much effort he would have to put into training her. She was okay when it came to setting up a trap, but even then her life had been at risk. And, with powers as uncontrollable as her own, Terra couldn't afford to make a slip up.

Night fell before anything happened, and it didn't concern much action. At it was Terra sitting on the shore chucking rocks across the calm water surface with her powers.

Then Beast Boy came along.

Slade had to sit down to watch this. It was bound to make him laugh.

"_Come on…You know you want to stay. We've got cable, indoor pluming, and all the tofu you can eat."_

He never really liked tofu. You couldn't blame a vegetarian for eating it, but it made a person wonder how you could acquire a taste for such a thing.

"_Tofu? You sure know how to charm a girl. I—I guess I could stay for one more day."_

Wasn't that just great…

"_Awesome! We're gonna have so much fun! And I can't wait to see what your powers do when you 'really' cut 'em loose!"_

Neither could Slade.

Then something interesting happened. Terra's eyes glowed fiercely again and her long blond hair flowed up as though she was caught in a strong wind. The rock Beast Boy perched atop was suddenly detached from the ground and sent the boy falling to the ground as it soared toward the water. Splashing in, it sent a huge wave over the changeling and soaked him from head to toe.

Slade gave a small laugh. It served him right for falling in love with a girl who could kill him. And Terra…now Slade had a general idea with what exactly he was dealing with…

"_Sorry! I'm sorry, I'm so **stupid**! Don't tell! PLEASE don't tell!"_

Apologizing and begging...Didn't these children ever learn?

"_Terra, it's okay. You can't totally control your powers. So what?_

"_Promise you won't tell anyone—**ever**!_

"_Sure…"_

"_**Swear it!**"_

"_Okay! Okay! I promise…But really, it's no big deal. If my friends knew, they'd still like you."_

Well, at least she was sharp when she needed to be—and the boy was wrong. Who accepts a freak? Besides, they already have had trouble enough with the demon girl who can't even smile in case someone's spin gets snapped in half. They wouldn't accept Terra like their own. Heaven forbid—when the Teen Titans first began they always tiptoed around each other. Robin must have had one hell of a time trying to get everyone on the team to be friends in the first place…

"_You just don't understand…"_

_That's right, Terra. **They** don't…_

After the two left to go inside, Robin and Raven came out to the combat field, sitting in the booth as they made some adjustments. Being the serious half of the team, the two of them were in charge of anything battle-wise, Robin being the leader of the team, and Raven tying with Cyborg when it came to second-in-command.

"_We should try something new." _ Robin suggested, his hands working away at the control panel. _"You know…maybe make it a little easier and to Terra's advantage."_

Raven gave him the same curious look Slade would have given him had he been with them. _"Why's that?"_

"_We already know she can fight, and even you have to admit she would be a nice addition to the team…but she doesn't think that. Maybe if she thinks she's good enough, she won't hesitate to accept the offer of staying?"_

So Robin was preplanning…The boy must have known Slade has his eyes on Terra as a second apprentice, because why else would he be acting so concerned for him. Robin was harder than that…but he was also still just a boy who believed in kindness and second chances. After all, he had had the like shown to him by his friends before.

"_Okay…whose first signed up on the course?"_

"_Cyborg called it—why?"_

A small grin played on Raven's face before she could destroy it. _"Oh…nothing…He loves to win, like you do. What are you going to do when it's your turn? I can't see you losing just to make Terra feel better."_

"_Ow…my ankle." _He laughed and Raven hid another smile from coming.

"_You just can't stand losing, can you?"_

"_Nope."_

It was what made him a potential villain.

-break-

"_Boo-yah! New course record!"_

"_Well, yeah." _Raven cut in, killing to mood. _"You're the first one to do the course."_

Robin grinned; fiddling with the controls in the booth beside Rave, taking only a brief moment to make sure none of his comrades saw what he was doing. _"Okay, terra—ready to show us what you can do?"_

She stepped forward and whispered to herself. _"I just hope you're ready to see it."_

Then Beast Boy came up with some running compliment that she was great enough to do it, but even if she didn't she was still great, not that he was saying that she couldn't do it, but if it ever were to happen…Something like that anyway.

Pulling her goggles over her eyes, she listened to robin as he set the course.

"_Countdown initiated! Good luck, Terra!"_

He really was going to cheat for her, wasn't he? That proved the fact that he was better off as an apprentice than a leader—he could be pushed beyond the limits, but he hesitated to do so for others. That said it all loud and clear.

"_Don't lose control. Don't lose control. Don't—"_

She chanted, spazzing herself out as her friends cheered her on. Then the timer reached zero and she began…

Lasers cannons, steel fists…Terra just about fell from the levitating rock numerous times, just _barely_ dodging some of the things thrown at her. Even with the course at an easy level, she still _just_ making it through. He she made it through the first half unscathed was beyond Slade's understanding, and he even noticed Raven and Robin cringing briefly as she was almost knocked from her perch.

Robin pressed the next button, eliminating the look of worry on his face just before his comrades turned to face him. The other three Titans were looking at Terra with admiration, and even the two stiff-ies had to admit she was doing quite well for a first try. That notion seemed to calm them and they let the course continue on it's own.

Guillotine-like gates become the next challenge, receiving a somewhat scared look from Terra. Bringing up a trail of stones, she smashed through the blades of each gate as she passed through, but her riding rock was destroyed and she began to fall during an opened pit below her.

"_We're going to need a new obstacle course." _Raven said to Robin, Boy Wonder giving her a frown of authority. He knew such things happened and just triggered the next challenge, seeing—but ignoring—Terra as she fell, still screaming. It didn't seem to bother him that badly to think she could fall to her death.

Gathering her wits, she levitates stone before her and grabs on to each one, swinging forward as each one collapses in her hands. It was a strange struggle, but she finally found a new boulder to ride as the next task began.

Disc launchers came up from the ground and followed Terra as she stared at them in wonderment. Then they began to shoot and it was another struggle as she blocked each disc with her rocks. At least she began to get the hang of it as she landed, her rock crashing to the ground. She was thrown forward, but caught herself and landed like a gymnast would.

Just then, Slade's writs began to beep. He pressed a couple of buttons and smiled to himself at the thought of his next meeting with the Teen Titans. He was going to have his talk with Terra and, now that she had proved herself, it wouldn't be hard to take her aside from the others with a little fight.

In his free hand he held the butterfly clip she dropped earlier in the canyon. He knew how to show her he was a friend…he just had to wait.

"_A little rough around the edges…" _Robin began, out from the booth and standing before Terra. _"But you're got some real talent there."_

"_You think?"_

"_With a little more training, you could—"_

Sorry, Robin. But some things aren't just meant to be.

Communicators beeping, the Titans turned their attention away from the girl as Robin explained the cause for alarm.

"_Okay…why is everyone blinking?"_

"_Slade…he's back."_

Again with the attitude. As much as Slade would have loved to talk with his apprentice again, he had to focus on Terra for the time being. He could have his revenge later.

"_Slade?"_

Beast Boy's ears drooped. _"Bad guy. Way bad…"_

Really? Thank you.

"_Got a fix on his location!" _Robin cut in. _"Titans—move out!"_

The girl watched hopelessly as they left to do what they did best and Slade began to worry if Terra was going to lock herself up in the T-tower until they returned. That would ruin his plans of meeting her face to face today.

"_Hey! You coming or what?"_

For once, he found a good reason why Beast Boy was on the team. He could lure teammates to their captors.

-break-

There was a diamond mine not too far out from Jump City. It was still close enough to be considered property of the city and that was how the Titans got the message. It was too far from the city for the cops to come (leaving the Titans on their own), and it was an earth-dwelling place where a person could get easily lost and separated. In addition, Terra would be more helpful in the current environment, showing Slade what she was really capable of.

The miners began to run as Slade's commandos closed in on them. He was in one of the tunnels, watching from his wrist screen as his commandos monitored the enemy.

A disc zoomed into view and the cameras turned to the Titans as they entered the area. The birdarang returned to Robin's hand after knocking the laser guns from the commandos' hands, a nifty little trick that gave his team the upper-hand at the beginning of the battle.

"_Tell your boss we'd like to have a word with him." _

"Maybe later Robin. Right now you'll just have to be patient…"

"_Titans! Go!"_

Terra leapt onto a boulder and took flight to the sky as two robots came at her, trying to pull her down. The leader of the team, however, had the largest problems. Slade's commandos still had their old command of disarming Robin first in a battle and so many ignored the girl completely as a squadron of his robots swarmed up around him. Bo-staff extended, he fought his strength away as they came at his all at once and successfully took quiet a hand full before they piled over him and pinned him.

Maybe he would be able to have a talk with the boy after all.

The robots were suddenly thrown off Robin as he struck them away, taking in a deep breathe after nearly suffocating. Then he was at it again and so were his comrades.

The Titans held off fairly well, and even Terra was proving she was anything but dead weight. Tearing rocks form the ceiling, she shot them at the commandos with pretty good aim, but then something unexpected happened.

Eyes glowing, sweating and moaning, a suddenly white light broke out around her and the lenses of her goggles shattered as she strained to control her powers. She had quite a bit of strength when it came to her power, but in the ways of control…that was what Slade had to touch up.

Backing off into a tunnel, Terra tried as best she could from keeping the ceiling in place as the whole place shook dangerously. A rock fell atop of Beast Boy, presumably killing him, and Terra backed off further into the tunnel before it finally collapsed and formed a wall of stones between her and the Titans.

Now she was alone.

Almost

Goggles now around her neck, Terra sighed heavily in an attempt to calm herself and leaned against a wall for support. She had no idea that she was now in the same tunnel as Slade and that he turned off his screen as he stared at her through the darkness.

"Why can't I do this?" She asked herself, sounding as troubled and lost as Miss Lovell made her sound out to be.

Squeezing her eyes shut tight, he could she was fighting back tears as he ran in her direction. He ran past her to another tunnel, deciding it best to keep her as far from her friends as he most possibly could with the risk of them somehow saving her.

"Slade."

He heard her gasp and just continued running. In pursuit, Terra ignored her weariness and tears, and Slade allowed for her to catch up in a hundred or so yards before she collapsed the tunnel before him, successfully cutting him off from a none-existent exit.

It was always a bit of fun to fool around with your prey's head before flipping the coin. It was just as he had done with Robin, making him_ think_ he could catch Slade and making him _think_ he could win…but Slade won in the end, and history was about to repeat itself now.

"Looks like I've got you." Terra said with a tab bit of pride in her voice. Did she actually think it would be that easy?

In one huge leap, he carried himself through the air over her and landed back the way they came. In his hand was one of his explosions which he threw to the ceiling to stick there as a little red light blinked.

"Actually…" The bomb went off and the way behind him caved in, trapping the two people together. "_I've_ got you."

As the cloud of dust began to settle, he walked implacably forward toward the goal of the day. The emergency lights of the tunnel turned on right then and there and revealed his ominous figure as he slowly approached her. This drove fear into her hear, forcing her to scuttle backward somewhat as she stared into his one menacing eye. She looked just like a wounded animal, dying and at the mercy of the wolf. He wouldn't kill her, of course, but it was nice to think that was why she was afraid. Many people feared death most, and that was what he was using to fool her.

She reeked of fear and it brought a smile to his face behind the black and orange mask.

"Now, terra…" He had his staff ready in his hands now, watching as her fear escalated. "…you walked right into a trap."

People who joined the Titans often did.

Close enough to hit her, he looked down upon her slightly shivering figure and shook his head slightly. "You of all people should know better…" He began to block her in with his staff. "But at least you and I are finally getting a chance to talk."

He jabbed, rather slowly actually, and watch as she dodged it with ease by throwing a rock his way with her powers. A little tired, her aim was rusty and it zipped past his head instead of hitting its mark—his face.

He relaxed his muscles. He was used to fighting Robin who, though young, was a hard fighter. Robin was a fun challenge, but Slade would have to go easy on the girl until he could do something with her. Training would be brutal for her, but, then again, it would have been brutal on anyone if they became his apprentice.

"Hmmm…I see we have much to talk about."

"Mind if I talk with my hands?" She shot back, two snake-like columns emerging from the walls to attack Slade. He dodged these and landed, kneeling in a crouch at her feet.

Not many people liked to talk with him. Hmmm…Robin wasn't much of kind talker either…

"Good, Terra—_but not good enough_."

Swinging his staff, he followed up with a jab as she sidestepped both attack, somersault away. He swung down at her small form, but she rolled out of the way—only to be cut off with another swung. He was about to bring the staff down hard on her back, but tiny rocks shot up from the ground around her and knocked him back as she covered her head with her hands.

A shield of her own creation formed up around her as she stood, peeking through a crack as Slade approached once more. Taking aim, he watched as she shoved the rock wall toward him in another attempt to knock him away. It was a slow attack, however, and he planted one of his staff in the ground to pole-volt over it. His staff was snapped in half when the rock passed beneath him, but he landed with his balance and stood to face her once more.

"Impressive—unless, of course, you were aiming for me." He mocked and the fear fled from her eyes momentarily at the hate for such an insult. At least he knew how to hit her nerves.

Dropping the staff, he punched away many of the rocks she shot at him from the wall. Still advancing, he braced for impact as a boulder came his way. This he smashed and the effect of the blow sent Terra flying, she sat now by on the ground, back against the wall as she tried to accept the fact that she was going to die.

Well, that's what she thought.

"BACK OFF!" She yelled, mustering the strength to stand. "I'm with the Titans! They'll be coming to—"

"You don't belong to the Titans." He interrupted, sick of hearing that lie. If he thought he could manipulate people, just wait until you see what the Titans could do to convince you something.

"You don't know anything about me!" She argued; throwing a temper that could even beat one of Robin's.

Reaching to his belt, he pulled out the clip and held it out to her. Shock replaced every other look on her face as se stared, baffled, at the tiny object.

"On the contrary, Terra. I know everything about you. I've been watching you for quite some time, and…I know why you're always running away."

Because Miss Lovell liked to set off bombs down town to make it look like an accident…but the girl didn't know that—and half of the real earthquakes were do to her.

"I know you're secret, little girl."

"_NO_!" She screamed and charged in furry. She attempted to hit him with her hand but she was far too slow. In the blink of an eye he had her wrist pinned to the wall, crushing it in his grip.

"Earthquake. Avalanches. Mudslides—everywhere you go you try to do you. And everywhere you fail. So everyone turns against you…"

She turned her face away from him as he replaced the clip in her hair and backed off.

"But it doesn't have to be this way. I can help you, child."

He bent down and picked up a fist sized stone. Inspecting it, he knew what lay inside.

"Right now you are…" He tried to find the right words. "…rough around the edges. You need more than obstacle courses to overcome your problem."

Squeezing the stone viciously, the outer rock fell away to reveal a diamond which caught her attention in amazement. She was probably wondering how he knew…

"But…my friends told me you're…"

"You don't really believe they're your friends, do you, Terra?"

"They took me in. Gave me a home."

"And when they find out what's wrong with you, they'll reject you, like everyone else."

"Beast Boy—"

"—can't keep his mouth shut forever…_He'll tell them_…"

"He promised!" She argued; hands curled into white-knuckled fists.

"He_ lied_."

The tunnel began to shake and a torrent of dirt and stone began to fly around her, forming a small tornado. "SHUT UP! Just shut up and leave me alone!"

Her eyes began to glow fiercely, but this was unintentional. She fell to her knees, hands grasping her head. "Don't lose control…don't lose control!"

Slade shook his head and the useless chanting. "Now, Terra…how can you lose something you never had?"

Behind him came the sounds of the rock wall giving way. He could hear Robin shouting and the others replying as they tried to save Terra.

"No one else understands you, Terra. No one else can help you…" He said before leaving, the green changeling coming into view down the tunnel. "I'll be waiting."

-break-

She left T-tower after that and, not having any bugs on the inside of the tower, he could only assume she left after an argument by the way she looked. But with a little meddling with his computer, Slade started to pick up something slightly masked with static from the bug he place in Terra's clip.

"_Of course…more training…you have trouble controlling your powers…we can help…"_

That would be Robin, and…

"_You told him!"_

"…_didn't!"_

"…_promised!…lied to me!…lied!"_

"_Terra, no! …Terra…"_

An argument indeed.

"_I just figure it out…" _Slade could hear Robin say before Terra was too far away to hear them. _"I didn't know it was a secret…"_

Robin…sometimes you're too good for your own good.

He watched her running from a separate screen, still smiling.

"Run all you like---because no matter where you go…every step brings you closer to me…"


	9. Chapter nine: Revenge

Slade's Tale

Alexnandru Van Gordon

(_Still in the dark mind…_) You know what, last time I forgot to wrap up my chapter with an author's note. Oh well, I guess you guys get bored of me talking all the time. Don't be afraid to tell me.

**Important:** This is another side chapter because there's such a long pause in the season when Terra comes and goes. He goes back to Miss Lovell for a little revenge and this will be a bit…well…not as gory as the "cut-off-the-fingers" gig—but you will get to see some Russian roulette if you know what that is. I'll explain it in the story, so don't worry if you have no idea what RR is—He he he—just wait and see…

DISCLAIMER: Nope—I own the idea of Lovell, but nothing else besides that…except for the plot…but that pretty much sucks…

CHAPTER NINE: Failure

—"_I am well aware of what you are capable of doing with failures and I do not intend to join that list of unfortunates…"—_(Miss Lovell)

Gotham…rainy again. If crime wasn't high enough, the weather thought to play a little game on the many inhabitants of the poor city. It was pouring cats and dogs when he arrived, but it didn't bother him too much. He had a bone to pick with Lovell.

It wasn't that she had failed him…entirely, but the idea was to get the girl (Terra) to join him. Instead, she ran. That was partially Robin's fault, and although that would work to Slade's advantage, he was running thin on the one thing he was well-known for—patience. Terra's running away was a great set-back in his plans and he wasn't about to chase her down. That would scare the girl further, and there really wasn't much blackmail to hold against the girl. She had seen the worst so far and didn't stay around long enough anywhere to make friends.

A loner was always harder to manipulate than someone who hung around his or her loved ones all the time.

Not surprisingly enough, Miss Lovell was not _home_ when Slade 'dropped by'. She was either at the hospital, finally getting surgery on her knee, or somewhere out on a job. Although she wasn't a mercenary or an ace shot, she loved what she did and had a tendency to watch her boys at work and sometimes joined in on the fun when she knew she wouldn't be a hindrance. She was supposed to be a fair thief too, but the damage done to her leg would be a set-back until it healed, and that—not doubt—was an annoyance on her part.

Strange enough, it didn't take long for Slade to find her. He heard the gunshots and a man yelling out an order. Standing on a high roof, looking down he could see someone on the roof nearby. It was a story lower than the one he was standing on and the jump wasn't that far, and the person should have been able to escape their pursuer if they had something like a grappling hook.

Slade looked closer…the one being chased had a small limp…

Lovell.

Interested, he watched as she spun around, cane in hand. She wore a soaking wet trench coat and a drenched, wide-brimmed hat to keep the rain out of her eyes, her cane so far her only weapon. Her pursuer was not a cop, but a man dressed entirely in black—no doubt another thief. If the two of them were not careful, the caped crusader would drop by soon and spoil all the fun…

The man had something of a short sword in his right hand, a dagger in the left. He was a martial artist, no doubt, and high above Lovell's league. Not only was her knee keeping her back, but she was little too slow with her blocks and caught a few slashes across the arms. Then, when the man was pushed back far enough to give her time, she pulled her cane in half—showing it to be a hidden sword. She took a couple of stabs at the man, but failed to do any real damage before he caught her already gimp knee with his dagger. She screamed and fell to the knee, her sword and cane sheath dropped to the ground as her hands hovered around the wound. She was hesitating between the urge to pull it out or apply pressure.

Before she could decide, the man kicked her in the face and she fell onto her back. Turning on her side in agony, the man raised his blade and prepared to make a clean kill—

_Bang!_

There was a small yelp from Miss Lovell when the dead man fell atop of her, and she had difficulty pushing his much larger body off her own small figure as shock set in. Slade had already taken a long run and jump to land on the same roof as her, and stood looking down at her as she pushed the man aside. The new wound in her leg wasn't too bad—the blade probably missed the bone, catching her in the hamstring vertically, close to the flesh. How the man had gotten the blade in at such an odd angle was slightly impressing, but who cared? He was dead.

"You…" Lovell said. Her voice had a slight quiver, but it was more so from the pain in her leg rather than fear. She wasn't easy to scare. "Why are you here?"

Hands shaky, she applied pressure to her leg, hands covered in blood. She pulled out some things from her pocket and started working on it, obviously having experience with such a wound.

"There's a problem."

Her hands slow, still shaky…before she shook her head and continued. Her eyes remained focused on the wound. "So? Are you going to shoot me, or are you going to watch me bleed to death? You're choice."

"You won't bleed to death…unless in the future." Slade opened his revolver and emptied the cylinder of all bullets, holding one in his hand. "I am upset—you do realize that, don't you?"

"Yes…So what are _you_ going to do about it?"

"_We_ are going to play a little game of Russian roulette. I assume you know what that is…" He placed the single bullet back inside and smiled behind his mask.

She looked up from her work and stared at the gun, eyes narrowing into a frown. "My father used to scare me half to death when he did that. Of course I know what that stupid game is—you keep one bullet in the cylinder, spin it, aim it at your head—and pray to God that the good lord doesn't consider this as suicide. And if you lived you can joke and say to a buddy—_you're turn_." She looked at the gun and sighed. "I guess it's fair."

"Indeed. I could have shot you instead or let that man kill you, but I decided that you're brave—and you have resources. This is as good as any chance I'm giving you to live."

"And if I get an empty shot?"

"Then we keep taking turns until one of us ends up with a bullet in the head."

That stopped her in her tracks… "You do realize there's a good chance that you'll die—I mean…you're not exactly the type of guy to strive for something for so long and then end your life with a stupid game."

He spun the cylinder and raised it to his head—

_Click!_

Then held it out to her. "_You're turn_."

Her eyes were wider and she hesitated…then, slowly she reached out and took the gun, staring at it for the long of times before she whispered a small prayer and closed her eyes. "_Sancta Maria, Mater Dei, ora pro nobis peccatoribus, nunc et in hora mortis nostrae…Amen_." Then in one quick motion she had the barrel to her temple—

(Translation: _Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death…Amen_.)

_Click!_

Opening her eyes, she sighed and frowned at Slade as she tossed the revolver back to him. "_You're turn_."

He gave a small laugh, looking down at the girl as she ignored her leg wound. She was still shaky, and Slade bet a bit of fear was the cause of that now. She was actually quite brave to try such a thing. There was no doubt she would have nightmares about it for a while now, but she knew the consequence of failure—she knew her job was going to be a tough one. Having her father chopped up when he headed the family business should have been enough of a clue to inform her of the danger. It was her fault for taking his place.

He raised the gun—

_Bang!_

The sound echoed for the longest of times and Slade had to laugh again. The look on her face was priceless—it was worth the shot.

"I knew about the rumors…" She whispered. "But…it's hard to believe that immortals really walk among the men…"

"My powers grow the more I use them." He said, and lowered the gun from his temple. It hurt…but not as much as he expected it to. It would take a while to rid his head of the bullet, having it cut through the mask on one side but failing to exit on the other side—and he deserved it for picking the game.

It was still fun…

Miss Lovell took off her hat and turned her face away from him as she began to vomit. He waited patiently until she was finished, watching as she tossed the hat away and wiped her mouth on the back of her coat sleeve. It was an old jacket anyway.

"I really hate you…" She muttered with venom in her voice as he knelt down to pick her up. "You do know that—don't you?"

"You're not the first to admit it."

-break-

The hospital asked too many questions—especially how come a girl kept coming back with such injuries. First a bullet and then a dagger—what side of town did she live on, and how the heck did she make it to a payphone to call for an ambulance.

Slade watched from a safe distance, knowing that Miss Lovell would have rather bled to death than see another doctor. She was afraid of them and would risk her life—but Slade still needed her. He sure as heck wasn't going to chase down Terra—keeping Terra in one spot was her job.

He waited until she was brought back home, her cane returned to her by her brother Matthew. The boy was the first person Slade ran into when he snuck inside—and he was a little impressed that they boy caught him. But Matthew was not in his kamikaze mood and didn't say a word as he led Slade to a room on the second floor. It was a dark bedroom—and sure enough, Miss Lovell sat at the desk, writing something down in her book.

"Did you get what you were looking for that one night?"

She didn't look at him, but gave a small wave of her hand to acknowledge his presence. Matthew followed him in and sat on the bed, slightly frowning. There was no doubt he heard about the Russian roulette game Slade played with his older sister a few nights back.

"Batman dropped in and my men had to scram." Then she grinned, sparing a quick glance at her brother. "The guy gave Matthew a couple of bruises—didn't he, Mat?"

Matthew grumbled something and crossed his arms, not in the best of moods this night.

"What can I do for you?" Miss Lovell continued, still writing. "I'm sure you're not here to say goodbye."

Hands behind his back, he gave a small laugh mentally. He was smiling behind his mask, glad she cut to the business. "Terra—I want you to _re-direct_ her to Jump City."

"Alright—where is she now?"

"New York."

Miss Lovell paused. "In this amount of time? For a girl who causes master destruction, I thought she would have had enough brains not to take a plane."

"She walked."

"Oh…" She continued. "Well, then—you can expect her soon. Just hold tight and tell me where you want to deliver."

"Jump City."

"With the Teen Titans?"

"Of course…" Then his eye narrowed in curiousity. "Why do you ask?"

Finished with her work, she placed down her pen and turned in her seat to face him. "The news might have nothing on the topic, but I have men in JC. Someone saw Robin double-crossing his friends to work for you…but he wasn't…was he?"

A reminder of his failure—how lovely.

"Blackmail." He said nonchalantly. "I had him for a while and he was stuck."

"And then he escaped."

He frowned. "What of it? We all mistakes, do we not?"

"Yes! Yes!" She waved her hand in irritation. "Of course I know that—I owe you for not killing me this time, so I thought I'd offer you the chance to get something else on the boy. It's obvious that you're not too upset about losing Terra; otherwise you would have let me die on the roof. But Robin is quite the assassin-to-be, isn't he?"

Indeed—it wasn't like he hadn't thought of that himself. He didn't like mind readers…but he entertained the idea of having Robin back. It was something nestled in the back of his mind (along with that damn bullet) and it would be so sweet to see the torment on Robin's face as he went through the ordeal a second time, this time without hope for escape. Then Slade would have what he truly wanted.

He almost said yes but held his tongue. Failure was one thing—but depending on another person to correct one's mistakes was only another sign of weakness. If he was going to get Robin back, he'd do it the long hard way on his own.

"Perhaps another time, Miss Lovell." He said at last. "But it's about time I return to Jump City."

"Then I will keep in contact with you." She sighed. "I'll call you when she's on her way."

He turned to leave, satisfied with the answer…but stopped in the doorway and turned to see her again. "I admire bravery, Miss Lovell. The next time you fail, I think another game of Russian roulette would be nice to play, don't you think?"

Lovell's eyes narrowed in annoyance, but the ends of her lips curled up slightly. "Indeed, indeed. But next time we'll play my father's way."

"How's that?"

Matthew grinned. "Two bullets, sir…but you have only to shoot once."

Slade smiled. "Miss Lovell and I play until the bullet is shot."

The look on Matthew's face was interesting. Obviously his older sister didn't mention that part.

"Goodbye, Slade."

"Goodbye, Miss Lovell."

-A-

No—there is no romance between the two. She's sixteen and he's…old enough to be my dad. But I hope you guys enjoyed this little peck. I promised someone I would update Slade's Tale, and so I did.

He he he—has anyone else here actually played Russian roulette besides me?

_Until Again,_

_Alexnandru Van Gordon_

PS: And no—I haven't actually played Russian roulette. I've only seen it being played…and I still think those guys are as lucky as hell not to get a shot in the head.


End file.
